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Cyber Jihadists Dabble in DDoS: Assessing the Threat

Recent events suggest that while cyber jihadists appear to remain of low skill and under-sophisticated, their toolset is expanding. Between December 2016 and January 2017, two distinct pro-ISIS cyber threat groups experimented with distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks and achieved limited apparent successes. Although the attacks have since ceased, these actors have expressed interest in engaging in similar and potentially more offensive cyber activities in the future. Indeed, the DDoS attacks that occurred previously provide visibility into these actors’ targeting strategies, limitations, and capabilities — all of which can help us assess the scope and credibility of the risks they represent.

July 13, 2017