Via Politico:

The Islamic State is seeking the ability to launch cyberattacks against U.S. government and civilian targets in a potentially dangerous expansion of the terror group’s Internet campaign.

Though crippling attacks for now remain beyond the reach of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, also known as ISIL, its hackers have tried to penetrate computers that regulate the nation’s electricity grid, U.S. officials say. On shadowy Internet forums, ISIL sympathizers post photos and videos of airplane cockpits and discuss wanting to crash passenger jets by hacking into on-board electronics. Fellow extremists debate triggering a lethal radiation release by sending rogue commands to nuclear power plants, according to the New York-based threat intelligence firm Flashpoint.

To date, a lack of world-class expertise has limited ISIL and its supporters to defacing websites, including that of an organization for U.S. military spouses, and pranks such as commandeering the Twitter feed of the U.S. military command directing operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. In September, James Clapper, the director of national intelligence, told Congress that the danger of a catastrophic attack from any cyber adversary was “remote.”

But Islamic State adherents have made no secret of their desire to acquire lethal capabilities, says Alex Kassirer, a Flashpoint terrorism analyst, who monitors conversations on extremist forums.

“The capability’s not there and that’s why we’re seeing these low-level attacks of opportunity,” Kassirer said. “But that’s not to say it’s going to be that way going forward. They’re undoubtedly working on cultivating those skills.”