Operation Inherent Resolve was started in 2016 which aimed to combat ISIS. It was a combined joint task force lead by the US military. Operation Inherent Resolve sent troops, ships, and air strikes to Iraq and Syria to fire weapons upon ISIS military. It’s widely known that US military engaged with ISIS in this way. But what you may not have heard, is the story of how the US military also combated ISIS over the Internet. This is the story of how the US hacked ISIS and conducted Operation Glowing Symphony.
Swedish Version: Nätets mörka sida Operation Glowing Symphony del 1, Operation Glowing Symphony del 2
Sponsors
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Sources
- https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/briefing-book/cyber-vault/2018-08-13/joint-task-force-ares-operation-glowing-symphony-cyber-commands-internet-war-against-isil
- https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/us-militarys-digital-war-against-the-islamic-state-is-off-to-a-slow-start/2016/07/15/76a3fe82-3da3-11e6-a66f-aa6c1883b6b1_story.html
- https://www.cyberscoop.com/paul-nakasone-isis-cyber-attacks-army-cyber-command/
- https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/ne5d5g/how-us-military-cybercom-hackers-hacked-islamic-state-documents
- Marine Corps Forces Cyberspace Command
- https://www.muckrock.com/foi/united-states-of-america-10/notes-reports-memos-operation-glowing-symphony-joint-task-force-ares-national-security-agency-58578/#file-202919
- https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4624362-Cybercom-Operation-Glowing-Symphony-Documents.html
- Paris Attacks Video CBC News
- https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/12/world/middleeast/isis-cyber.html
- Video: Cyber Operations in Context: A Look at Joint Task Force Ares
- NPR Podcast: How the US Hacked ISIS
- Australia: Inside the secret hack that infiltrated, and then tore down, Islamic State’s propaganda unit.
- https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/briefing-book/cyber-vault/2020-01-21/uscybercom-after-action-assessments-operation-glowing-symphony
Attribution
Darknet Diaries is created by Jack Rhysider.
Episode artwork by odibagas.
Theme music created by Breakmaster Cylinder. Theme song available for listen and download at bandcamp. Or listen to it on Spotify.
Additional music by Epidemic Sound.
Equipment
Recording equipment used this episode was the Shure SM7B, a cloudlifter, Audient ID4, Sony MDR7506 headphones, and Hindenburg audio editor.
Transcript
[FULL TRANSCRIPT]
JACK: Just as a warning up front, there’s some clips of violence in this episode such as gunfights and terrorist attacks. If that kind of thing bothers you then you might want to skip this one. [MUSIC] Mosul, that sounds like a good place to start this story. Mosul is an ancient city in Iraq. We’re talking, people have lived there in the area of Mosul since like, 2,000 BC. It’s right next to the Tigris River and it’s grown to a population of jeez, over a million and a half people. It’s Iraq’s second-largest city. On June 10th, 2014, a new chapter in Mosul’s history was written. A group of armed fighters, basically an army, just raided the place. [GUNFIRE] ISIS infiltrated Mosul.