back to article Pro-ISIS hacking groups are still hooking up

Remember when pro-Daesh/ISIL/ISIS hacking groups banded together to form a unified force? They're still, er, hooking up, according to a recent study. However, while they still operate unofficially, say the authors, they remain poorly organised and are likely underfunded, according to threat intel outfit Flashpoint. The study, …

  1. Bernard M. Orwell

    It takes a special sort of person...

    ...to be a hacker for ISIS.

    First, you need to be intelligent, educated and logical enough to understand the nuances and techniques of a good hack (as opposed to simple script attacks etc.) and then, you also need to be illogical and addle-brained enough to believe in ISIS lunatic philosophy.

    A very, very special kind of person indeed.

    1. Mark 85

      Re: It takes a special sort of person...

      Since when does one's philosophy need to interfere with one's expertise in a tech field or vice versa? I've met more than nutcase working in engineering and/or IT. Some are really far out there in beliefs but as far as their tech/engineering skills, they were second to none.

      One should never dismiss those who threaten or attack. Instead one should seek to understand their thinking. That is way to defeat them. Read some of the classics on warfare and politics. "Know thy enemy" is a very true statement.

      1. John Brown (no body) Silver badge
        Facepalm

        Re: It takes a special sort of person...

        "I've met more than nutcase working in engineering and/or IT. "

        Exactly. I once worked for a guy who, despite being very good at his job, claimed to have a working perpetual motion machine under development in his garage and it was only a matter of time before he ironed out the last few problems. Errmmm.....

    2. veti Silver badge

      Re: It takes a special sort of person...

      "Highly intelligent and logical, but also violently psychopathic and dysfunctional" is not that rare a combination. It's been observed for some time that, for some reason, "engineering graduates" are significantly over-represented among captured and confessed terrorists.

      High-profile examples: Osama bin Laden (he hacked the US government - not its computers, but the institution itself - that's some l33t 5h!7 right there); Anders Breivik; Ted Kaczynski; Khalid Sheikh Mohammed; Mohamed Atta.

  2. Anonymous Blowhard

    "Bad news for corporate security teams"

    More like "massive budget-inflating opportunity for corporate security teams, and good news for security vendors".

    From the description “novice-level” and "opportunistic" it sounds like anyone who's vulnerable to being hacked by ISIS is easy meat to the real professionals, who are motivated by money and backed by organised crime.

  3. jake Silver badge

    Whatever.

    I'm quivering in my boots.

    Not.

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