The United States Cyber Command (CYBERCOM) said it is reluctant to cut internet connections to Islamic State (ISIS)-held cities despite the fact they are actively engaged in a cyber-war against the militants. “It’s a careful balance, even in Raqqa or Mosul, or anywhere on how we balance the rights to have access to the internet versus the use of the internet illegally by folks like ISIL [ISIS],” Thomas Atkin, the acting assistance defense secretary for homeland defense and global security, told the US House Armed Services Committee on Wednesday. Fighting ISIS online has given CYBERCOM valuable experience. Also ISIS’s online presence has actually helped the US undermine the militants. The New York Times reported that CYBERCOM has successfully manipulated ISIS networks online, altering and imitating messages sent by ISIS commanders to militants on the battlefield in order to direct them to areas where the US military can more easily take them out in either air or drone strikes. US Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter explained earlier this year that the aim of US cyber-attacks against ISIS in Mosul is to “interrupt [the group’s] command and control, to cause them to lose confidence in their networks, to overload their networks so they can’t function, and to do all of these things that will interrupt their ability to command and control forces there, control the population and the economy.” The telecommunications infrastructure in Mosul was installed by the Americans during the Iraq War, meaning it’s potentially easier for them to hack into. CYBERCOM, established in 2010, has officially been engaged against ISIS in a war in cyberspace since April to counter that groups use of the internet to promote their propaganda and attempt to recruit foreigners to join their rank and file. The UN Security Council tasked the UN’s Counter Terrorism Committee (CTC) last month with finding ways to prevent ISIS from luring foreign volunteers to join them via sophisticated online propaganda. The UN released a press release at the time which said the Security Council is concerned about the ability of ISIS to “craft distorted narratives that are based on misinterpretation and misrepresentation of religion to justify violence.” ISIS has released very well made propaganda movies since its rise to global infamy, many of them depict the groups sordid torture and murder of their enemies. The militants were also caught earlier this month actively using social media in order to sell women, likely Yezidis, they had put into sex-slavery two years ago.
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