Al-Qaeda Calls for 'Electronic Jihad'

Terror group compares US cybersecurity to pre-9/11 aviation
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted May 23, 2012 2:41 AM CDT
Al-Qaeda Calls for 'Electronic Jihad'
The video urges al-Qaeda supporters to attack US networks.   (Department of Homeland Security)

Al-Qaeda compares flaws in America's cybersecurity to gaps in aviation security before the 9/11 attacks in a chilling video released by the Senate Committee on Homeland Security. In the video, which was obtained by the FBI last year, an al-Qaeda operative calls for "electronic jihad" against the US with attacks on government and infrastructure networks, ABC reports.

"This is the clearest evidence we've seen that al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups want to attack the cyber systems of our critical infrastructure," said committee chief Joe Lieberman, who argued that the video proves that new legislation is needed to protect key networks. "Congress needs to act now to protect the American public from a possible devastating attack on our electric grid, water delivery systems, or financial networks," he said. (More al-Qaeda stories.)

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