ISIL heading toward cybercrime amid territorial losses: NATO official

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) has changed strategy and its militants have begun to relocate to countries such as Libya and engage in cybercrime as the group has lost land and revenue streams in Syria and Iraq, according to a NATO official.

"Half of the financial revenue of ISIL has disappeared as the caliphate has shrunk. They have lost their ability to tax people. They have lost their ability to commercialize oil sales, which were a major source of revenue. They have lost their ability to export arms and the rest," a senior NATO official told the Hürriyet Daily News during ongoing meetings in Brussels. 

"So they are increasingly looking at organized crime. ISIL may soon have to resort to cybercrime, like hackers that try to steal money from banks and credit cards, in order to raise revenue," the official added. 

The jihadist group will be "more active in virtual space amid the collapse of the caliphate in the physical space," according to the NATO official. 

The second aspect of the evolution of the group is relocation as it is ejected from Iraq and Syria as a consequence of the international offensive. Only half of its operatives have remained in Mosul. We are tracking where these people are going," the official said.

The group has focused on Libya, with ISIL operatives taking up positions away from the coast, the official said, adding that they were looking for places like Somalia, making alliances with Boko Haram in Nigeria and establishing branches in Afghanistan, the official said, noting that the group has connections with 19 different countries.

The new challenge for the international community will be to prevent ISIL from consolidating its caliphate in another ungoverned area, the NATO...