Although al Qa’ida is better known for its physical terror attacks than its cyber presence, it has practiced cyber terrorism and appears to be attempting to grow its capabilities in this area, according to an article in Small Wars Journal. Historically, the group’s cyber activities have been limited to using the Internet and social media to spread its jihad message as well as a few relatively minor attacks, such as website defacements. Although al Qa’ida doesn’t appear to currently have the capabilities to orchestrate a serious cyberterrorist attack, it has become entralled with the idea of cyberterrorism and is actively trying to gain the skills and recruit the personnel necessary for the task. To these ends, al Qa’ida has performed reconnaissance of U.S. critical infrastructure and has added to its ranks educated individuals with computer science and information technology college degrees. Given these activities, the article advocates for increased monitoring of al-Qa’ida cyber activities and hardening of critical infrastructure cybersecurity lest the U.S. be blindsided by a major cyber attack from this group.  Small Wars Journal.