# Islamic State Hacking Division

**en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_State_Hacking_Division**

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The Islamic State Hacking Division (ISHD) or The United Cyber Caliphate **(UCC) is a**
merger of several hacker groups self-identifying as the digital army for the Islamic State of
**Iraq and Levant (ISIS/ISIL). The unified organization comprises at least four distinct groups,**
including the Ghost Caliphate Section, Sons Caliphate Army (SCA), Caliphate Cyber
**Army (CCA), and the Kalashnikov E-Security Team. Other groups potentially involved with**
the United Cyber Caliphate are the Pro-ISIS Media group Rabitat Al-Ansar (League of
**Supporters) and the Islamic Cyber Army (ICA).[1]** Evidence does not support the direct
involvement of the Islamic State leadership. It suggests external and independent
coordination of Pro-ISIS cyber campaigns under the United Cyber Caliphate **(UCC) name.**



[2] [Investigations also display alleged links to Russian Intelligence group, APT28, using the](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/APT28)

name as a guise to wage war against western nations.[3][4]

## Concerns


The group's actions have included online recruiting, website defacement, social media
hacks, [denial-of-service attacks, and doxing with 'kill lists.'[5][6][7]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denial-of-service_attack) The group is classified as
low-threat and inexperienced because their history of attacks requires a low level of
sophistication and rely on publicly available hacking tools.[8][9]

Experts raised doubts about the source and nature of data from released 'kill lists' containing
personal information about U.S. Military personnel claimed stolen from hacked U.S.
government servers. There is no evidence that the United Cyber Caliphate (UCC)
compromised U.S. systems. The data included public, unclassified, and often outdated
information about civilians, non-U.S. citizens, and others built from old data breaches or web
scraped data.[10][11]


U.S., French, and German intelligence Investigated attacks following the French Television
Channel TV5Monde hack and The U.S. CENTCOM Twitter attack. All three countries linked
actions by the United Cyber Caliphate (UCC) to **[APT 28, a Russian intelligence group.[3][4]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/APT_28)**


-----

## History

The group first emerged in hacking operations against U.S. websites in January 2015 as the
**Cyber Caliphate Army** **(CCA).[1]** In March 2015, the Islamic State published a "kill list" on a
website that included names, ranks, and addresses of 100 U.S. military members.[12]


A pattern of similar attacks emerged after the media coverage. At least 19 individual 'kill
lists,' including personal information of American, Canadian, and European citizens released
between March 2015 and June 2016.[13] On April 4, 2016, all four groups united as the
**United Cyber Caliphate (UCC).[14]**

In June 2016, the [Middle East Media Research Institute found and revealed to the media an](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_East_Media_Research_Institute)
alleged list of approximately 8,300 people around the world as potential lone-wolf attack
targets.[15]

## Successful attacks since mid-2014


Australian airport website defaced.[16]
French [TV5Monde live feed hacked, social media hacked and defaced with the](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TV5Monde)
message "Je Suis ISIS".[17] French investigators later discounted this, instead
[suspecting the involvement of a hacking group, APT28, allegedly linked to the Russian](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/APT28)
government.[18]
ISIS hacks Swedish radio station and broadcasts recruitment song [19]
United States' military database hacked in early August and data pertaining to
approximately 1400 personnel posted online.[20]
Top secret British government emails hacked. The emails pertained to top cabinet
ministers. The intrusion was detected by GCHQ.[21]
February 28, 2016, Caliphate Cyber Army (CCA) carried out the bizarre hack on the
website of Solar UK, a company in the historic town of Battle, England. Customers
were being diverted to a web page featuring the ISIS logo accompanied by a string of
chilling threats. “Fear us,” the page warned. “We are the Islamic Cyber Army”.
On April 15, 2016 (Friday), Islamic State hackers under the name UCC successfully
hacked 20 Australian websites in a coordinated attack on Australian business. Some of
the websites redirected to the website containing their content.[22]
In early April 2017, UCC released a kill list of 8,786 people.[23]
In mid 2019, Islamic State affiliated hacking group hijacked 150 targeted Twitter
handles using an unknown vulnerability.[24]

## References


1. ^ a b _[Alkhouri, Laith (2016). "Hacking for ISIS: The Emergent Cyber Threat Landscape"](https://fortunascorner.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Flashpoint_HackingForISIS_April2016-1.pdf)_

_(PDF). Flashpoint._


-----

2. Alexander, Audrey (April 2019). Doxing and Defacements: Examining the Islamic


_State's Hacking Capabilities". CTC Sentinel. 12 (4) – via Combating Terrorism Center_
_at West Point._
3. ^ a b _["False Flags: The Kremlin's Hidden Cyber Hand". Observer. 2016-06-18.](https://observer.com/2016/06/false-flags-the-kremlins-hidden-cyber-hand/)_

_Retrieved 2017-09-25._
4. ^ a b _["Defense Intelligence Agency Releases Russia Military Power Assessment".](http://www.dia.mil/News/Articles/Article/1232488/defense-intelligence-agency-releases-russia-military-power-assessment/)_

_Defense Intelligence Agency. Retrieved 2017-09-25._
5. ^ _Theodore Schleifer, CNN (18 June 2015). "FBI director: We can't yet limit ISIS on_

_social media - CNNPolitics.com". CNN._
6. ^ _Emma Graham-Harrison (12 April 2015). "Could Isis's 'cyber caliphate' unleash a_

_deadly attack on key targets?". the Guardian._
7. ^ _["Flashpoint - Cyber Jihadists Dabble in DDoS: Assessing the Threat". Flashpoint.](https://www.flashpoint-intel.com/de/blog/cyber-jihadists-ddos/)_

_2017-07-13. Retrieved 2020-12-09._
8. ^ _Lamothe, Dan._ _"U.S. military social media accounts apparently hacked by Islamic_

_State sympathizers". Washington Post._ _[ISSN](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISSN_(identifier))_ _[0190-8286. Retrieved 2020-12-09.](https://www.worldcat.org/issn/0190-8286)_
9. ^ _Bernard, Rose (2017-05-04). "These are not the terrorist groups you're looking for: an_

_assessment of the cyber capabilities of Islamic State". Journal of Cyber Policy. 2 (2):_
_[255–265. doi:10.1080/23738871.2017.1334805.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doi_(identifier))_ _[ISSN](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISSN_(identifier))_ _[2373-8871.](https://www.worldcat.org/issn/2373-8871)_
10. ^ _["Doubts cast on Islamic State's so-called leak of US .mil, .gov passwords".](https://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/08/12/islamic_panic/)_

_theregister.co.uk._
11. ^ _Desk, ICT Cyber (2016). "Case Study – "Killing Lists" – The Evolution of Cyber_

_Terrorism?". Cyber-Terrorism Activities Report No. 16: 34–39._
12. ^ _Schmidt, Michael S. (21 March 2015). "ISIS Urges Sympathizers to Kill U.S. Service_

_Members it Identifies on Website". The New York Times. Retrieved 8 December 2020._
13. ^ _Arsenault, Adrienne (15 June 2016). "ISIS 'kill list' includes names of 151_

_Canadians". CBC.ca. Retrieved 16 June 2016._
14. ^ _["Special Report: Kill Lists from Pro-IS Hacking Groups" (PDF). SITE Intelligence.](http://sitemultimedia.org/docs/SITE_Analysis_of_Islamic_State_Kill_Lists.pdf)_

_2016._
15. ^ _["Are you on the Islamic State's kill list? Check here". 10 June 2016. Retrieved 16](http://zeenews.india.com/news/india/are-you-on-the-islamic-states-kill-list-check-here_1893681.html)_

_June 2016._
16. ^ _["Australian airport website hacked by Islamic State". Telegraph.co.uk. 13 April 2015.](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/islamic-state/11531794/Australian-airport-website-hacked-by-Islamic-State.html)_
17. ^ _["Europe - France's TV5Monde targeted in 'IS group cyberattack'". France 24. 9 April](http://www.france24.com/en/20150409-france-tv5monde-is-group-hacking)_

_2015._
18. ^ _["France probes Russian lead in TV5Monde hacking: sources". Reuters. 10 June](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-france-russia-cybercrime-idUSKBN0OQ2GG20150610)_

_2015. Retrieved 9 July 2015._
19. ^ _["Someone Hacked Swedish Radio Station to Play Pro-ISIS Song".](https://www.hackread.com/someone-hacked-swedish-radio-station-play-pro-isis-song/)_
20. ^ _Safi, Michael (13 August 2015). "Isis 'hacking division' releases details of 1,400_

_Americans and urges attacks". the Guardian. Retrieved 2015-08-23._
21. ^ _Perry, Keith (11 September 2015). "ISIS hackers intercept top secret British_

_Government emails"._ _[Daily Mirror. Retrieved 2015-09-21.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daily_Mirror)_
22. ^ _["'Are you joking?': Small Australian businesses targeted by pro-IS hackers". ABC](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-04-15/pro-islamic-state-cyber-group-hack-websites-of-small-businesses/7329858)_

_News. 15 April 2016._


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23. _[ISIS-linked cyber group releases kill list of 8,786 US targets for lone wolf attacks .](http://www.newsweek.com/isis-linked-cyber-group-releases-kill-list-8786-us-targets-lone-wolf-attacks-578765)_

_Newsweek. 2017-04-04. Retrieved 2017-04-09._
24. ^ _"ACCA Claims Hacking 150 Twitter Accounts | Dark Web and Cyber Security |_

_Articles". ent.siteintelgroup.com. 16 July 2019. Retrieved 2019-07-16._


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