SciFi Headline Turns Real: US Drone Kills ISIS Hacker

Welcome to your dystopian future. Reports from yesterday say that a US drone strike in Syria has killed a British-born computer hacker who had joined ISIS and was involved in that group's online activities:

A US air strike is believed to have killed a British citizen who rose to prominence within the Islamic State, officials have told the Guardian.

The Birmingham-born Junaid Hussain, who adopted the nom de guerre Abu Hussain al-Britani, had been a key figure within Isis's so-called "Cyber Caliphate" before being killed in the strike in Syria, where he had travelled in 2013.

Remember when President Obama said (of Ed Snowden): "I'm not going to be scrambling jets to get a 29-year-old hacker." Apparently, that changes when the hacker is working for ISIS (and the hacker is only 21 years old).

There's no doubt that ISIS is a dangerous organization, but sending drones to go after hackers, even those targeting American interests, still feels like a pretty big overreaction.

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