Attorney General Loretta Lynch says the new terrorist group ISIS is more of a threat than al-Qaeda.
The Attorney General Loretta Lynch told ABC News that the Islamic extremist group ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq) is using social media and technology in ways that are still new to law enforcement and that makes them ultra-dangerous.
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'It's as serious - if not more serious - a threat as al-Qaeda,' Lynch told ABC News.
'It is a dangerous, high-tempo threat environment
ISIS has over 20,000 English language Twitter followers, says Lynch.
Recently, hacktivist group Anonymous has campaigned to expose and shut down Twitter accounts that were sending out ISIS propaganda, according to
Anonymous revealed over 9,200 Twitter accounts it said were linked to ISIS sympathizers.
Lynch warned that technology makes it harder to decipher who will fall for ISIS propaganda and she expressed concern that homegrown lone-wolf terrorists, such as 24-year-old Mohammad Abdulazeez, can move stealthily under the government's nose.
Abdulazeez gunned down five military personnel at a military recruitment center and U.S. Navy facility in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
'I think that the fact that he was not on law enforcement's radar illustrates the concern that we have of individuals who are outside the mainstream yet tap into these strands of thought or schools of thought that lead them to violence,' said Lynch.
She said there is only so much law enforcement can do to monitor terror groups because they often disappear into encrypted platforms while online.
Lynch said she and her colleagues call this 'going dark.'
She said it's very difficult to know who will succumb to ISIS propaganda.
But it's a new kind of threat that keeps Lynch and her colleagues 'up at night'.
Lynch says what she and law enforcement officials fear most right now is a cyber-based terrorist attack.
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