GCHQ claims to have carried out major ICT attack on IS last year

The British intelligence agency GCHQ claims to have carried out a major offensive ICT campaign against Islamic State in 2017. The attack would have frustrated ISIS’ planning.

According to the BBC, it would be the first time the UK has systematically blocked an adversary’s online capabilities. The attack was revealed by GCHQ’s new chief executive, Jeremy Fleming, at the Cyber ​​UK conference in Manchester.

He did not provide details about the attack, but he did make it clear that the operation made online activities of the group impossible and that equipment and networks were destroyed. “In 2017, there were times when Islamic State was made almost impossible to spread hate messages on the internet, use their normal channels or trust their own publications,” Fleming said.

According to him, the outcome shows how effective a targeted internet attack can be and such attacks can also be used for other threats.