"World War III is already here, and it's happening on the internet."
Cyber warfare: The new international warfront
Faced with increased cyber attacks, US government is balancing attack on and defense from hackers and cyber criminals.
Mesa, Arizona - To enter the Arizona Cyber Warfare range (AZCWR), a person must have a signed waiver, the consent from the strict private security firm that guards the facilities, and the fortitude to withstand the salty language and messy environment created by the hackers inside. "This is the only place in the world where the good guys can learn to hack from good guys who really know how to hack," Brett Scott, one of the founders of the AZCWR, told Al Jazeera inside their hacking headquarters. The organisation is housed inside a complex that began as a research facility for top-secret military technology in the 1980s. The group has three missions: to educate the public on the merits of hacking by offering free courses, to change the realm of cyber-security for both the public and private sectors to gather, and to handle the enemies of the United States. Right now, the enemy at the top of that list is the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS), which controls a dwindling swath of land in Iraq and Syria. AZCWR uses "bots", or computer programs that take advantage of thousands of computers across the planet, to lodge complaints against ISIL Twitter pages. "Our net effect is taking down 1,000 accounts a day," Scott said. When asked how his cadre of hackers, none of whom speak Arabic, are able to find the accounts, Scott responded that the AZCWR is given tips from intelligence agencies across the globe.