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Terrorism on the Internet
From CopperWiki
Terrorism on the Internet is an extremely dynamic phenomenon, with most active terrorist groups establishing their presence on websites which suddenly emerge, frequently modify their formats, and then swiftly disappear. In many cases, they change their online address but retain much the same content. Terrorist websites target three different audiences: current and potential supporters; international public opinion; and enemy public.
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[edit] Why should I be aware of this?
Terrorism has often been conceptualized as a form of psychological warfare. The Internet is ideally suited to wage such a campaign to spread disinformation, to deliver threats intended to distill fear and helplessness, and to disseminate horrific images of recent actions.
They can also launch psychological attacks by creating “cyber fear” such as threats of bringing down airliners by disabling air traffic control systems, or disrupting national economies by wrecking the computerized systems that regulate stock markets. The Internet provides the scope to amplify their message and exaggerate its importance and the threat it poses.
Terrorists take advantage of commercial networks for communications, finance, and transportation to act on a global rather than national or regional scale. These networks allow them to maintain a presence and to coordinate and mount operations that would have been beyond their capabilities before 1990. The Internet is one of these commercial networks. It is a vital resource for global terrorism.
[edit] How does this affect me?
Terrorist groups have become adept at using the Internet. Just like any of us they use the Internet for information gathering and communications. They also utilize the Internet for fund raising, disseminating propaganda, sending instructions, and providing directions. They distribute bomb making and training manuals on the Internet as well. It is reasonable to assume that they send coded messages to hide their intent. It is our duty to know what an average citizen can do to counteract terrorism on the Internet.
In businesses today, our data is our gold. Especially those of us who make our living online are basically making our money off of computer files. Files sitting on a server’s hard drive. And for most of us, the web server we use is not in our direct control. We therefore need to back up your data on the web server and try to make it geographically redundant. Back up your server data in two or more geographical locations. If something happens in the city where your web server is located, your data is safeguarded.
[edit] All about terrorism on the Internet
While it is believed that some terrorists use encrypted e-mail to plan acts of terrorism, most groups appear to use the Internet to spread their propaganda. The Internet by its very nature is an ideal arena for activity by terrorist organizations as it offers:
- easy access;
- little government control, regulation or censorship
- large worldwide audience
- anonymity of communication;
- fast flow of information;
- inexpensive development and maintenance
- ease of combining text, graphics, audio, and video and to allow users to download films, songs, books, posters, and so forth
- the ability to shape coverage in the traditional mass media, which increasingly use the Internet as a source for stories.
[edit] What do the websites contain?
Typically terrorist websites provide a history of the organization and its activities, a detailed review of its social and political background, accounts of its notable exploits, biographies of its leaders, founders, and heroes, information on its political and ideological aims, fierce criticism of its enemies, and up-to-date news.
Though most sites justify and try to legitimize the use of violence they don’t give details of their violent activities.
Nationalist and separatist organizations generally display maps of the areas in dispute: the Hamas site shows a map of Palestine, the FARC site shows a map of Colombia, the LTTE site presents a map of Sri Lanka, and so forth. Despite the ever-present vocabulary of "the armed struggle" and "resistance,"
[edit] Messages
Terrorist websites freely use slogans aimed at their sympathizers and offer items for sale, including T-shirts, badges, flags, and videotapes and audiocassettes. They may use local language to spread the message to the local population, giving detailed information about the activities and internal politics of the organization, its allies, and its competitors. Most sites offer several language versions.
Press releases are issued through the websites to attract foreign and local journalists.
[edit] Contacting each other
Terrorists also use the internet to contact each other. Some of the ways are
- Creating a message by logging into a webmail provider like yahoo/gmail and saving it as a draft. Then sharing the login information with others. This way messages are read but not sent and hence not traced.
- Using websites like twitter, flickr as drop points to leave a message in a public website which doesn’t make much sense to everyone but conveys the required information to the person who has a key to decipher it.
- Using VOIP software like Skype.
[edit] Fundraising
Like many other political organizations, terrorist groups use the Internet to raise funds. Most terrorist groups depended heavily on donations, and their global fund-raising network is built upon a foundation of charities, non-governmental organizations, and other financial institutions that use websites and Internet-based chat rooms and forums.
[edit] 90 degrees
Islamist terrorist networks, particularly al-Qaeda, are using gambling websites to launder money and train potential terrorists in Britain without them having to risk traveling to camps in Pakistan, according to a media report.
The terrorist network has also used computer experts to develop encryption software, known as 'Mujahideen Secrets 2', to allow militants to communicate by email without fear of interception by intelligence services. [1]
[edit] CopperBytes
- In 1998, around half of the thirty organizations designated as "Foreign Terrorist Organizations" under the U.S. Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 maintained websites; by 2000, virtually all terrorist groups had established their presence on the Internet. [2]
[edit] See also
[edit] References:
- Terrorism and Internet Use
- Terror networks use gambling websites
- How Modern Terrorism Uses the Internet
