The Sunday Times - Britain
July 31, 2005
Finger points to British intelligence as al-Qaeda websites are wiped out
Over the past fortnight Israeli intelligence agents have noticed something distinctly odd happening on the internet. One by one, Al-Qaeda’s affiliated websites have vanished until only a handful remain, write Uzi Mahnaimi and Alex Pell.
Someone has cut the line of communication between the spiritual leaders of international terrorism and their supporters. Since 9/11 the websites have been the main links to disseminate propaganda and information.
The Israelis detect the hand of British intelligence, determined to torpedo the websites after the London attacks of July 7.
The web has become the new battleground of terrorism, permitting a freedom of communication denied to such organisations as the IRA a couple of decades ago.
One global jihad site terminated recently was an inflammatory Pakistani site, www.mojihedun.com, in which a section entitled How to Strike a European City gave full technical instructions. Tens of similar sites, some offering detailed information on how to build and use biological weapons, have also been shut down. However, Islamic sites believed to be “moderate”, remain.
One belongs to the London-based Syrian cleric Abu Basir al-Tartusi, whose www.abubaseer.bizland.com remained operative after he condemned the London bombings.
However, the scales remain weighted in favour of global jihad, the first virtual terror organisation. For all the vaunted spying advances such as tracking mobile phones and isolating key phrases in telephone conversations, experts believe current technologies actually play into the hands of those who would harm us.
“Modern technology puts most of the advantages in the hands of the terrorists. That is the bottom line,” says Professor Michael Clarke, of King’s College London, who is director of the International Policy Institute.
Government-sponsored monitoring systems, such as Echelon, can track vast amounts of data but have so far proved of minimal benefit in preventing, or even warning, of attacks. And such systems are vulnerable to manipulation: low-ranking volunteers in terrorist organisations can create background chatter that ties up resources and maintains a threshold of anxiety. There are many tricks of the trade that give terrorists secure digital communication and leave no trace on the host computer.
Ironically, the most readily available sources of accurate online information on bomb-making are the websites of the radical American militia. “I have not seen any Al-Qaeda manuals that look like genuine terrorist training,” claims Clarke.
However, the sobering message of many security experts is that the terrorists are unlikely ever to lose a war waged with technology.
LINK
al-Qaeda websites being wiped out
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Dale O Sea
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I have wondered for a long time why something hadnt been done to those sites...by hackers at least. Maybe PTB use them to gleen info...
Thanks for the thread and info.
Thanks for the thread and info.
Last edited by vigo on 08-01-2005 04:05 AM, edited 1 time in total.
Well, better late than never, I suppose... Joe Quinn.
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Dale O Sea
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Dale OSea wrote: Way back when they were being hacked and once or twice since - to see how they fared. They are doing well..looking more western than middle-eastern. Educating the masses with their version of reality..
Thats my take as well. Kinda like Trinity Broadcast Network. Maybe they got pointers from Jerry Falwell or his peers.
Be interesting to see what fallout will come from all this.
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Hackers fight terrorists
I found another related article this morning...patriotic hackers are being allowed to crash hostile sites, it seems.
from the Sun Online
by Pete Bell
THE INTERNET has become the latest frontline in the war against terror.
With the world wide web increasingly used as the main instrument of propaganda and communication for extreme religious groups like al-Qaeda, MI5 and patriotic hackers have formed an unlikely alliance to close down their sites.
Prime Minister Tony Blair announced this morning the Government would be looking at options to tackle the problem.
Alarmingly, experts believe al-Qaeda’s master hacker is running the terrorist group’s central communications hub from the UK.
Impressionable youngsters are targeted through the web by sinister fringe organisations posing as religious groups, as terror organisations recruit gullible young men by bombarding them with lies about western Governments and hysterical calls to Jihad.
Neil Doyle - an expert in terrorists' use of the internet and author of the book Terror Tracker - believes since the July 7 bombings, MI5 have changed their tactics in the cyber-war.
An MI5 unit monitors suspect websites constantly and Mr Doyle believes that since the first London bombings, rather than simply watching the sites and harvesting them for intelligence, agents are actively working to get the sites closed down.
And he says patriotic hackers are joining in to help.
Talking exclusively to the Sun Online, he said: "Al-Qaeda has pioneered the use of the Internet and it has a high number of computer specialists among its ranks. They are able to use a wide variety of methods to mask where they are operating.
"They are continually innovating and adapting to stay one step ahead of their pursuers.
"But they occasionally make mistakes. It's my understanding that the person considered to be al-Qaeda's master hacker is operating out of London right now.
"Britain is al-Qaeda's central communications hub and much of its online activities are co-ordinated from here.
"There are signs that the British security services are now pushing hard to close off their communications channels. Most of the best-known UK jihad sites went off the air on July 7 and that has now spread to the Middle East."
He added: "MI5 is known to have a team of computer specialists who are devoted to monitoring these kinds of sites.
"The policy in the past seems to have been to let these sites continue to operate and sit back and soak-up the intelligence. It looks like that's now been abandoned and they've gone on the offensive.
"We also see civilian hackers who have mounted something of an online anti-jihad.
"The role of patriotic hackers in taking down extremists websites is clouded in deep secrecy, as it is illegal. The FBI has put out a statement in the past warning them to stop or face prosecution.
"The simple rule of thumb is that if a site has gone down quickly, maybe within minutes or hours after first being identified, it's likely to be hackers. Hosting companies and the authorities are usually slow to react and often nothing can be done, unless there's been a clear breach of the law.
"If it's a borderline freedom of speech issue, then it's likely that there will be little that the authorities can do and the hosting company is likely side with its customer.
"Cyber-terrorism and physical terrorism go hand in hand. The bombers need secure communications and funding and the internet provides both of these things.
"There are a myriad of ways that terrorists can contact each other in safety and that can even take place openly on publicly-accessible sites. Funding is not a problem if you have access to the Net.
"Terrorist groups and their supporters are known to be heavily involved in credit card fraud. It's too easy."
Mr Doyle says a group claiming to be north London-based al-Muhajiroun - which used to be led by hate-preaching cleric Omar Bakri Mohammed - has just launched a series of new websites to spread their message.
Bakri said last year he had dissolved the group, which wants to establish Taliban-style governments across the world.
The expert said, as the Internet is impossible to regulate, it is difficult to close down terror sites for long. Pressure can be put on the companies that host the propaganda and sites can be attacked by hacking, but it is easy to get them up and running again by changing the host.
Although the vile sites have been hosted by companies in many different countries, the UK used to be popular with extremist groups, but security service tactics seem to have dealt with this.
Ironically, the US is now the country where most of these sites are hosted.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) says that it would be 'unconstitutional' and against the US constitution's First Amendment on freedom of speech if they were to pressure the hosting companies.
Frighteningly, Mr Doyle says, governments across the world face a seemingly impossible task in policing the Internet and admits: "It is a nightmare task".
SUN LINK
from the Sun Online
by Pete Bell
THE INTERNET has become the latest frontline in the war against terror.
With the world wide web increasingly used as the main instrument of propaganda and communication for extreme religious groups like al-Qaeda, MI5 and patriotic hackers have formed an unlikely alliance to close down their sites.
Prime Minister Tony Blair announced this morning the Government would be looking at options to tackle the problem.
Alarmingly, experts believe al-Qaeda’s master hacker is running the terrorist group’s central communications hub from the UK.
Impressionable youngsters are targeted through the web by sinister fringe organisations posing as religious groups, as terror organisations recruit gullible young men by bombarding them with lies about western Governments and hysterical calls to Jihad.
Neil Doyle - an expert in terrorists' use of the internet and author of the book Terror Tracker - believes since the July 7 bombings, MI5 have changed their tactics in the cyber-war.
An MI5 unit monitors suspect websites constantly and Mr Doyle believes that since the first London bombings, rather than simply watching the sites and harvesting them for intelligence, agents are actively working to get the sites closed down.
And he says patriotic hackers are joining in to help.
Talking exclusively to the Sun Online, he said: "Al-Qaeda has pioneered the use of the Internet and it has a high number of computer specialists among its ranks. They are able to use a wide variety of methods to mask where they are operating.
"They are continually innovating and adapting to stay one step ahead of their pursuers.
"But they occasionally make mistakes. It's my understanding that the person considered to be al-Qaeda's master hacker is operating out of London right now.
"Britain is al-Qaeda's central communications hub and much of its online activities are co-ordinated from here.
"There are signs that the British security services are now pushing hard to close off their communications channels. Most of the best-known UK jihad sites went off the air on July 7 and that has now spread to the Middle East."
He added: "MI5 is known to have a team of computer specialists who are devoted to monitoring these kinds of sites.
"The policy in the past seems to have been to let these sites continue to operate and sit back and soak-up the intelligence. It looks like that's now been abandoned and they've gone on the offensive.
"We also see civilian hackers who have mounted something of an online anti-jihad.
"The role of patriotic hackers in taking down extremists websites is clouded in deep secrecy, as it is illegal. The FBI has put out a statement in the past warning them to stop or face prosecution.
"The simple rule of thumb is that if a site has gone down quickly, maybe within minutes or hours after first being identified, it's likely to be hackers. Hosting companies and the authorities are usually slow to react and often nothing can be done, unless there's been a clear breach of the law.
"If it's a borderline freedom of speech issue, then it's likely that there will be little that the authorities can do and the hosting company is likely side with its customer.
"Cyber-terrorism and physical terrorism go hand in hand. The bombers need secure communications and funding and the internet provides both of these things.
"There are a myriad of ways that terrorists can contact each other in safety and that can even take place openly on publicly-accessible sites. Funding is not a problem if you have access to the Net.
"Terrorist groups and their supporters are known to be heavily involved in credit card fraud. It's too easy."
Mr Doyle says a group claiming to be north London-based al-Muhajiroun - which used to be led by hate-preaching cleric Omar Bakri Mohammed - has just launched a series of new websites to spread their message.
Bakri said last year he had dissolved the group, which wants to establish Taliban-style governments across the world.
The expert said, as the Internet is impossible to regulate, it is difficult to close down terror sites for long. Pressure can be put on the companies that host the propaganda and sites can be attacked by hacking, but it is easy to get them up and running again by changing the host.
Although the vile sites have been hosted by companies in many different countries, the UK used to be popular with extremist groups, but security service tactics seem to have dealt with this.
Ironically, the US is now the country where most of these sites are hosted.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) says that it would be 'unconstitutional' and against the US constitution's First Amendment on freedom of speech if they were to pressure the hosting companies.
Frighteningly, Mr Doyle says, governments across the world face a seemingly impossible task in policing the Internet and admits: "It is a nightmare task".
SUN LINK
![http://www.kingdomofnye.com/photogaller ... ext[1].jpg](http://www.kingdomofnye.com/photogallery/photo30148/Ford_GT40_vorne_Text%5B1%5D.jpg){kind=link}
vigo wrote: I have wondered for a long time why something hadnt been done to those sites...by hackers at least. Maybe PTB use them to gleen info...
Thanks for the thread and info.
Well maybe just maybe they belong to our governments? Propaganda, disinformation, intelligence gathering you name it. Maybe just maybe they pulled the plug on theses sites to sever any link that could be made between the Government and any terrorist groups.
Maybe just maybe some one here is covering their ass.
No I don’t think it’s a conspiracy just my thoughts.
That certainly was another thought of mine. I was waiting to see if someone would touch upon it and you did.Alien_UK wrote: Well maybe just maybe they belong to our governments? Propaganda, disinformation, intelligence gathering you name it. Maybe just maybe they pulled the plug on theses sites to sever any link that could be made between the Government and any terrorist groups.
Maybe just maybe some one here is covering their ass.
No I don’t think it’s a conspiracy just my thoughts.
Fire up the propaganda presses the people are buying it and we are going to give them a two for one special (NY & London).
The stakes are higher and the PTB have seemingly improved their cover up skills. IMO
Hope you are well... take care.