The US assistant attorney general warns “You need to prepare” because Islamist extremists are “drawing closer to launching lethal cyber jihad attacks on the US.

The FBI and department of Homeland Security are also in on the warning.

James Comey, the FBI director, last year warned about terrorists using “destructive malware” while a Homeland Security department official said in October that Isis had launched unsuccessful attacks on the electricity grid.

Mercy! What can we do?

I have a suggestion, otherwise I would not have asked. First, let’s consider the report.

The Financial Times discloses US Warned Over ‘Cyber Jihad’ Attacks.

A top Department of Justice official warned on Thursday that Islamist extremists were drawing closer to launching lethal “cyber jihad” attacks on the US.

“You need to prepare because it’s going to come here,” John Carlin, assistant attorney-general for national security, told a conference in Washington, little more than a week after the Brussels bombings. “We’re watching as they actively try to acquire the capability to match their intent.”

James Comey, the FBI director, last year warned about terrorists using “destructive malware” while a Homeland Security department official said in October that Isis had launched unsuccessful attacks on the electricity grid.

Terrorists currently lack the ability to launch sophisticated electronic offensives but such skills are available in the shadowy precincts of the internet. Mr Carlin suggested that Isis could hire criminals like those who last month paralysed the computer network at Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center in Los Angeles, which paid a $17,000 ransom to regain access to its electronic files. Instead of demanding cash, Isis would try to cause patient deaths by freezing treatment records.

Mr Carlin, who earlier on Thursday met Loretta Lynch, the US attorney-general, and Jan Jambon, Belgium’s interior minister, to discuss counterterror co-operation, said groups such as Isis and al-Qaeda could not be deterred. “There’s not going to be any dollar amount you can pay,” he said. “We’re in a race against time.”

Time’s a Wastin’!

This race against time is precisely why I was wrong in my assessment earlier today about the “Need for Smaller, More Flexible Nukes“.

We need to strike right now at the hotbed of jihad extremists while the iron is still hot.

I propose we bomb Brussels immediately before the jihadis escape to Saudi Arabia where we cannot touch them.

Johnny Cash was Right!

Let’s get together and use those arms now! Time’s a Wastin!

Just in case anyone failed to recognize sarcasm, that was it.

Mike “Mish” shedlock