The U.S. military has a “high level of confidence” that a highly ranked ISIS hacker was killed by an air strike in Raqqa, Syria.
Pakistani-born Junaid Hussain fled his home in Birmingham, England so he could join ISIS. He quickly rose through the ranks by becoming the leader of the “Cyber Caliphate,” or ISIS’ team of hackers and tweeters. Through the alias “Trick,” Hussain attacked anti-Muslim bias and spread ISIS rhetoric and videos through his accounts. He also hacked former Prime Minister Tony Blair’s contact list.
Hussain was also a key player in ISIS’ recruitment strategy. Since he himself left a western country to join the radical group, he often reached out to other lone wolves and published many calls to action on Twitter.
Though it was Hussain’s policy to never stay longer than six hours in any one location, karma caught up to him. His car was struck outside a gas station.