A hacker group, allegedly affiliated with the Islamic State or ISIS, is threatening to employ an “electronic war” on several nations — including the U.S., RT reported on Wednesday.
The now-deleted propaganda video, titled “Message to America,” went viral on Tuesday and stars a dark-hooded man with an imperturbably disguised Arabic voice.
At a glance, the video is painted somewhat similar to Anonymous’ online shenanigans; however, the man in the video, who loosely claims affiliation with the Islamic State, speaks of an upcoming cyber conflict with the U.S., Europe, and Australia.
Furthermore, the footage included English subtitles and a firm yet aggressive message to its viewers. In addition to instilling fear, the video’s clear message codified a number of hacks the group allegedly initiated.
The video described the hacking of an Australian airport site, along with that of an “American leadership” site and “others.”
But despite all these claims, the video failed to provide proof of their dirty laundry. The Islamic State video did subsequently threaten the U.S. and Europe by saying communications of both nations is currently being “monitored” for a cyber-attack.
It is unclear whether this hacker group is in any way affiliated with ISIS. No one representing the Islamic State has spoken out to the media about an attack.
Needless to say, the original video has since been removed from YouTube and journalists are left only with stories and tales of the footage.
Ironically, this threat comes about a month after cyber-criminals were castigated by U.S. President Barack Obama with the option of sanctions, both financial and travel-related.
According to Obama, sanctions will accompany any individual, business, or government who participates in malicious cyber behavior. Obama also stated the following,
“Cyber threats pose one of the most serious economic and national security challenges to the United States, and my Administration is pursuing a comprehensive strategy to confront them,”
The Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, rose to prominence after the spread of their beheading videos through social media.
The Islamic State also gained media attention over the hacking of several Twitter accounts, most notably the U.S. Central Command . The attacks took place around the time of the Charlie Hebdo shooting in France and the #OpCharlieHebdo campaign.
The hacks were also center stage for the Islamic State’s ongoing “cyber war” against Western nations and hacktivist group Anonymous.
[Photo via YouTube]
