U.S. officials announced that the military has started launching cyber attacks against ISIS as part of the latest assault to take back the Iraqi city of Mosul.
Defense Secretary Ash Carter said at a Monday Pentagon press briefing that U.S. forces are using cyber tools to disrupt ISIS's ability to operate and communicate over the virtual battlefield.
Carter said the goal is to “cause them to lose confidence in their networks, to overload their network so that they can't function, and do all of these things that will interrupt their ability to command and control forces there.”
Joint Chiefs Chairman General Joseph Dunford said the operations have already started but didn't share details because U.S. officials want to maintain the “element of surprise.”
“Frankly, they're going to experience some friction that's associated with us and some friction that's just associated with the normal course of events in dealing in the information age,” Dunford said.
