The U.S. military combined cyber and kinetic operations to hunt down ISIS last year, general says - Cyberscoop

The U.S. military combined cyber and kinetic operations to hunt down ISIS last year, general says - Cyberscoop: The military used cyber-operations alongside more conventional weaponry in an important battle against ISIS last year, a senior U.S. official revealed recently. U.S. Cyber Command, the country’s leading cyberwarfare force, was involved in secretly launching a series of cyberattacks against the terrorist group in 2017 that knocked out its computer systems in Iraq, said Gen. Stephen Townsend, the former commander of the Army’s anti-ISIS coalition. The tactic caused ISIS personnel to leave their heavy command posts, exposing them to attack with kinetic weapons such as missile strikes, Townsend said. The general discussed the covert operation in detail for the first time last week. His comments were first reported by Military.com. It’s unclear how often the U.S. military or its allies use such a combination of tactics against enemy forces, and it’s rare for top officials to even discuss such operations. The general — who commanded Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve in 2017 — told an …

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