Jihadism Online by Dr Brynjar Lia4

Al-Qaida Online:
Understanding the jihadist internet infrastructure
Dr Brynjar Lia
Senior research fellow
The Norwegian Defence
Research Est. (FFI)
Dagens tekst
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Kva brukar al-Qaida Internett til?
Kva finn vi på jihadistiske nettsider?
Korleis samverkar dei ulike nettsidene?
Korleis påverkar dette terrortrussel: nokre framtidsutsikter
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FFIs terrorismeforskning:
Sjekk nettsida vår www.ffi.no/TERRA
TERRA prosjektet ved FFI:
Brynjar
Lia
Laila
Bokhari
Thomas
Hegghammer
Petter
Nesser
Truls H
Tønnessen
Kort CV for Brynjar Lia
STILLING:
• Seniorforskar ved FFI
• Har leia FFIs forskning på
internasjonal terrorisme sidan 1999.
UTDANNING:
• Cand. philol, dr philos,
professorkompetanse
• Gjesteforskar ved Harvard
University (2001-2)
• Arabiskutdanning i Cairo (1993-5)
og Beirut (2004).
• Forsvarets russiskkurs 1987-88
PUBLIKASJONAR:
Nyaste bøker:
• Globalisation and the Future of
Terrorism (Routledge, 2005)
• Architect of Global Jihad: The Life
of al-Qaida Strategist Abu Musab alSuri (Hurst, 2007)
• Ca 15 FFI-rapportar om
internasjonal terrorisme, sjå
www.ffi.no/TERRA
Al-Qaida’s literary production on the www
What
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A very comprehensive litrary production
Spanning from theological justifications of violence, long-term
political strategies, tactical advice for guerrilla warfare, to
instruction manuals for homemade weapony and security
procedures on how to evade surveillance and wire taps.
Why?
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Strategic studies and tactical handbooks are produced for
recruitment purposes: aims at facilitating the transit from a
sympathiser to a full-fledged jihadist.
The Internet has become much more important for al-Qaida
after the loss of the Afghan training camps in 2001.
Al-Qaida’s primary function has historically been to serve as a
”university of jihad”, and an investment company
specialising in ”promising jihadist projects” as well as a
”fighting vanguard”, inspiring the extremist communities
through extraordinarily daring acts of violence.
Implications:
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A greater degree of decentralisation, a trend towards
autonomous jihadist cells operating without direct al-Qaida
command-and-control.
Al-Zawahiri Threatens USA, UK, Australia, and Norway in
May 2003 referring to their involvement in Iraq
”Jihadism Online”: nodes and networks
• The size and scope of the web
resources maintained by jihadist
sympathisers is enormous.
• It evolves quickly
The “Jihadist Infrastructure on
the Internet”
• Key nodes
– Official websites of jihadist
groups
– Jihadist web forums
• It will become
– more interactive,
– more professional in layout and
design,
– more multi-linguistic
– a greater variety of formats
– improved access from a greater
variety of electronic devices.
• “Distributors”
– “Directories”, updated list of
links
– mailing lists, message boards,
esp. Yahoo! Groups.
– homepages of sympathisers
• “Producers”
– jihadist media groups
– online libraries
Jihadism Online: purposes
• Propaganda, proselytising:
– Ideological-political literature,
theological literature, fatwas,
khutbas etc
• Communication
– “Terrorize the enemy”
– Communicate official views in
external bayanat
– Outline doctrines, and strategy
– Operative instructions (email,
encrypted or coded)
• Training
– Weapons and security training,
counter-surveillance etc
• Information gathering,
reconnaissance
• Fund-raising
• E-jihad – information attacks on
enemy websites
– defacement, theft of sensitive
data, DDOS attacks etc
Jihadist journals: from paper to bytes
Jihadist media before the Internet:
Abdallah Azzams Jihad Magazine published in
Peshawar in the late 1980s
A typical jihadist online magazine: Third
edition of al-Jama’a, the electronic journal of
the Algerian GSPC (“Salafist Group for
Preaching and Combat”),
www.jihad-algerie.com/
“A High-Level Jihadist Course in Hiding AK-47 parts
and Smuggle Them Across Military Checkpoints”
“Local explosive device”
Excerpts from al-Qaida´s
”Encyclopaedia of Jihad”
Improvised chemical weapon recipe
(hydrogen cyanid gas),
as described in al-Qaida´s ”Encyclopaedia of Jihad”
Source: ”Encyclopaedia of Jihad” (4. Online edition)
http://f2.pg.briefcase.yahoo.com/bc/i3dad_13/vwp2?.tok=bcSd5_TBvjQPoJSx&.dir=/&.dn
m=Kemical.zip&.src=bc
(October 2004)
Jihadism Online: types of websites
The “mother sites” or key nodes
• Official homepages of jihadist
groups, clerics, and ideologues
• Jihadist web forums
(muntadayat)
Al-Qaida assumes responsibility for the
two operations in Mombasa and Kenya,
December 2002
Abu Mus‘ab al-Suri’s official website
al-Qaida’s perhaps most influential strategist today
Title of website:
• “The Library of Shaykh
Umar Abd al-Hakim - Abu
Mus‘ab al-Suri: Your Guide
to the Way of Jihad”.
Contains:
• Abu Mus‘ab al-Suri’s
writings and studies
• A biography of al-Suri
• A communique to the US
Administration
• Videotapes of al-Suri’s
lectures in Afghanistan
• etc
Shaykh Hamid bin Abdallah al-Ali
Key Cleric for the jihadi insurgents in Iraq
Table of contents:
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Weekly articles
Interaction with visitors
”The Fatwa Pillar”
Audio and visuals
”Under the Microscope”
Pictures and commentaries
News archive
Correspond with us!
Mailing list
Official websites of jihadist groups
The Army of Ansar al-Sunna website
Located at
http://ansar-web.i8.com/K_main.html (11.Oct
2005)
Contents:
– Communiques
– Ideological tracts, fatwas.
– Journal (named Majallat Ansar
al-Sunna, 11 editions so far)
– Movies of operations
– News.
– Encryption software,
– Mailing lists
– Etc
– Offers also a Kurdishlanguage version
The ”al-SafNet” Jihadist Forum
‫ـــى اـــــت‬
http://www.al-saf.net/vb/
Contents:
• Forum for general dialogue
• Forum for battlefield news
• News forum
• Forum for jihadist cells
• Al-SafNet studios
• Forum for requests
• Forum for jihadist mobile
phones
Jihadist Web Forums
The “Muntada al-Ansar al-Islami”
•‫ـــى اـــــــر ا‬
• Muntada al-Ansar al-Islami has
long been considered the
leading jihadist webforum
• Very popular and therefore
password protected to limit the
number of visitors
• Has been “down” for protracted
periods of time.
• Has recently begun to offer
sub-forums in English, Spanish
and French
Jihadist web forums - examples
• ‫ت اة اد‬
Muntadayat al-ma’sadah aljihadiyyah, www.alm2sda.net/
• Named after a famous
mujahidin camp in Afghanistan
• Very active in 2004 until spring
2005.
• Ran a specialised forum
dedicated to “jihadist cells”.
• Posted weapons manuals and
responded to requests and
inquiries from visitors on
explosive techniques etc.
Chat Rooms - PalTalk
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PalTalk is very important in
networking, in creating
intimacy and solidarity
among jihadist sympathisers
across borders, and in
facilitating access to jihadist
leaders.
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Example from a Muslim
Brotherhood website (www.almultaqa.net):
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”You have an appointment on
Sunday at 10 o´clock at night,
[…] with a leader in the
Islamic Resistance
Organisation – Hamas, to
discuss current events and
developments. In chatroom
“Saraya al-Da´wa” on
PalTalk”
Jihadism Online: ”the Distributors”
“The Abu Bokhari Directory to Jihadist
Forums and Websites”
Distributors:
• Directories, updated lists of
links
• Mailing lists, message
boards, esp. Yahoo! Groups.
• Homepages of sympathisers
•“Producers”:
- Jihadist media groups
- online libraries
Jihadist Directories
The Meshawir Directory, http://meshawir.2islam.com/
• Until recently, the Meshawir
Directory was perhaps the most
prominent jihadist directory.
• It featured not only an updated list
of the twenty top jihadist forums
and websites.
• It also provided links to a wide
variety downloadable texts,
audiotapes and videos.
‫”‪List of “recommended Jihadist websites‬‬
‫(ت ‪OP‬ا‪ .‬ا‪•-(N‬‬
‫(ت ‪ QRST‬اة•‬
‫(ت اا‪•-RU‬‬
‫(ت ‪O$
VNW‬ار ا‪•!*#‬‬
‫ى *‪O‬ر( ا‪•!*#‬‬
‫ــى ا‪•4R‬‬
‫(ت ا ا‪•!*#‬‬
‫(ت &‪ %‬ا‪2‬ا( ا‪•R!*X‬‬
‫(ت ا‪ W* - Z R‬ا‪W‬اث•‬
‫ااق‬
‫(ت &‪ %‬ا‪!.‬م ا‪2‬د(•‬
‫ى ا•‬
‫ى اح•‬
‫ى ا
ا•‬
‫ى اــر•‬
‫ أه ا وا•‬
‫ى ا‪"#‬ــ!ص•‬
‫(ت &‪ %‬ا‪•$‬‬
‫ى ا‪*+‬ة•‬
‫(ت ا‪ - %$‬اـاق أرض اا‪•-(.‬‬
‫(ت ا‪4‬دوس ا‪2‬د( •‬
‫اى ‪ /‬ى ا"ر•‬
‫‪Source: Sawt al-Rafidayn website,‬‬
‫‪October 2005‬‬
Example of ”distributors”:
The message boards
• iaiiraq Yahoo! Group
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/
iaiiraq/,
• Originally an unofficial
mouthpiece for The Islamic
Army in Iraq.
• At this picture, it posts
advertisment for a newly
reopened jihadist forum
Example of ”distributors”:
Yahoo! Groups - example
• The e3dad_group · ‫ ااد‬
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/e3dad_g
roup
• Main goal: to update online training
manuals and handbooks in alQaida’s Encyclopaedia of Jihad
• In reality, it mostly posts random
jihadist news, documents, and
communiques.
• Many Yahoo! Groups are often
jammed by spam.
•They function mostly as message
boards, and there are rarely
discussions here.
• Document files can be uploaded in
a designated box.
• Large storage capacity for users
Example of ”distributors”
Sawt al-Jihad website, www.soutweb.ne1.net/
Dedicated to distribute the
publications of “al-Qaida in the
Land of the Two Rivers”
– Journal ‫ ذروة اـــم‬
– Selected videos, audiotapes,
tracts
– Abu Anas al-Shamis writings,
f ex ‫" !ر‬#‫ وآ‬%! "#‫اد آ‬
– Links to other recommended
websites
Example of ”distributors”
The al-Qaidun website
http://qa3edon.100free.com/index.htm
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Presents itself as a website ”established by a
group of mujahidin sympathisers, dedicated to
redistribute the publications of the ”al-Qaida
Organisation on the Arab Peninsula” (QAP)
Posts QAPs most recent communiques
Posts UBLs most recent speeches in word-,
pdf- and rm-format, including a brief summary
of his main points.
Post the collected works of key Saudi jihadist
ideologues and all editions of the famous
Voice of Jihad and al-Battar Camp journals.
Al-Qaidun prides itself of having produced all
these works in easily accessible e-book
formats
Posts an adapted Arabic-version
Photoshop.7.0 for downloading, and a HTML
Help Workshop for how to construct e-books.
“The Producers”
Examples of jihadist media
outlets:
• Global Islamic Media Front
• The Electronic Media
Battalion
• Islamic Media Center
• Sahab media company
• Sawt al-Khilafa broadcast
Example of ”producers”
On 4 Oct 2004 the Global Islamic Media
posted advertisement for a new e-book
about Zarqawi´s Tawhid wa´l-Jihad Group
in Iraq.
The posting is distributed via several Yahoo
group mailing lists:
– "mojahidon"
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<[email protected]>,
" ‫" ا ا‬
<[email protected]>,
"‫"ب‬# $%‫" ا‬
<[email protected]>,
"‫< "'ور‬[email protected]>,
"‫* وا)د‬+‫< "ا‬[email protected]>,
"‫ط‬-‫ ارض ا‬/ ‫"ا)د‬
<[email protected]>,
"0‫ا‬1‫< "ا‬[email protected]>,
"/‫د اه‬34‫"ا‬
<[email protected]>,
"5‫ر‬6‫ ر ا‬#‫< "ا‬[email protected]>
Internet TV News - the Jihadi Way
The ”Caliphate Voice” TV
• Advertised well in-advance
• Two editions have been broadcast
so far (08.10.2005)
• Posted on numerous jihadist
forums by GIM, 13 different links in
different formars and quality
• Text version also presented
• ”Help us distribute, Here are sites
for free uploading”
• 55 sites listed
Free webhosting –
A vital resource for Jihadism Online
• ”Help us
distribute, Here
are sites for free
uploading”
• 55 sites listed
Anti-Jihadist Hactivism
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Aaron Weisburd claims that he
and his supporters “are
responsible for dismantling at
least 650 and as many as 1,000
sites he regards as threatening,
especially Islamic radical sites.”
(Washington Post 25 April 2005)
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Weisburd was threatened by
Jihadist web Forums. The
www.Mojahroon.com wrote: “this
is the damned Jew who
established a website to monitor
and destroy the jihadist sites. He
is the one who caused the
closure of the al-Elkhlas site
recently.”
www.mohajroon.com/vb/showthr
ead.php?t=120
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Aaron Weisburd runs the Internet Haganah
website
Hiding files deep down
Url-address provided
Rtf-file with links
List of files uploaded at
www.geocities.com
Stored in password-protected zip files,
password given in notepad-file inside the zipfile
Finally, the documents, mostly photocopied al-Qaida training
manuals, stored as jpeg pictures or pdf-files.
Storing files at websites which do not exist
Jihadist hackers
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September 6, 2005 -- WASHINGTON — U.S. counterterrorism authorities have been
engaged for months in a shadow war with a computer hacker extraordinaire who is
using cutting-edge technology to help al Qaeda and other jihad groups with their
vast Internet operations, The Post has learned. Experts inside and outside the
government confirmed in recent interviews that an intensive effort has been under
way for more than a year to track and shut down the mysterious cyber-ghost, who
identifies himself as Irhabi 007 — or "Terrorist 007."
…..
The FBI has been investigating Irhabi 007 since July 2004, when the Web site of the
Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department was hacked.
The site was transformed into an al Qaeda message board, and links were posted
that allowed visitors to view videotapes of Osama bin Laden and tributes to the 9/11
hijackers.
The person who hacked into the Arkansas government site and posted the links
identified himself as Irhabi 007.
SOURCE: The New York Post 6 September 2005, www.nypost.com/news/worldnews/52966.htm
Islamic Media Center Hacked
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IMC Communique – Clarification about our mail
address, undated
[email protected]
”Our email address must be considered
unknown, because we have lost control over it
and cannot enter. […]
The Tyrrant [i.e. the government] has the idea
of using the name [of IMC] for his personal
reasons, such as sending out lies from the
IMC.
It is by the grace of God, that we have been
targeted by a large-scale media and
intelligence attack. […]”
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”The IMC was founded 14 years ago and have
presented wonderful things to the Internet
world in the shape of courses, publications and
movies at a time when Internet was a new
thing […]”
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Signed Abu al-Khansa´ al-Shami
Jihadist Hactivism
• Hacking, cracking, defacing of enemy
websites
• Distributed Denial of Service Attacks
(DDOS)
• Most jihadist webforums have a
separate forum dedicated to “electronic
jihad”.
• Appears to be more defensive than
offensive in character.
• Focus on protecting websites, ensuring
anonymity, bypassing government
censorship, finding new storage sites
etc.
• Some of the virus recipes are very
unsophisticated
Jihadist Hactivism
Announcement:
• “The largest campaign to destroy
Crusader websites:
• We need mujahidin!
• The timing of the electronic attack
is Thursday at 19.00 GMT.
• Attack will last for one hour.
• We have 50 mujahidin so far that
are ready for this campaign….”
Target site: two sites for MuslimChristian dialogue
SOURCE: Al-SafNet, section for
electronic jihad, www.alsaf.net/vb/showthread.php?t=1606,
Political satire
•Various forms of political satire.
•Used in caricature,
•One example of a ”Candid camera”-movie
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) ‫ ) هو ر أ ق ا‬:)
‫"ة‬# $‫ ا‬: ‫ا‬
http://www.h-alali.net/npage/pic_open.php?id=327
Framtidsutsikter
Forventa framtidsutvikling
Ny “interconnecting” informasjonsteknologi vil gjere fleire og fleire
menneske i stand til å utveksle større og større mengder data frå eit
stadig aukande antal apparat som også vil bli mindre og mindre.
Nokre implikasjonar
Revolusjon i synet på informasjonstilgang, etterretning, og
overvaking.
Nye trendar i terrorisme:
• Virtuelle ekstremistmiljø / terrororganisasjonar
• Meir globalisert terrorisme
• ”Leaderless resistance”-prinsippet vil kanskje bli meir utbreidd blant
terrorgrupper
• Meir individualisert (”loner”) terrorisme