The Internet as a Terrorist’s Tool
Focus: The War on Terror

June 23, 2003
By: Investigator Douglas J. Hagmann, CEO, Hagmann Investigative Services, Inc.
Copyright © Douglas J. Hagmann
Reprints of article in its entirety permitted with permission and credit to author

Introduction

The Internet is a fantastic tool with innumerable positive uses. It allows for nearly seamless communication in the business world, permits individuals to communicate with each other from one end of the world to another, and serves as a tool for consumers and the advancement of commerce. It seems that the value of the Internet increases exponentially almost daily, with many of us relying on different aspects of the Internet for various purposes in our daily lives.

Although a large percentage of people in the United States and other western based countries have gained an understanding and functional use of the Internet, so too have our declared enemies such as al Qaeda, Hamas, and other radical Islamic groups bent on destroying the United States and Western Culture. Like everything else in today’s society, the Internet is a tool and resource that can be used for truly positive and benevolent purposes, or as weapon of destruction, depending upon the intent and motives of the user. It is the latter that is a significant cause for concern in our post 9/11 environment and consequently, the focus of this paper.

It is important for people to understand that the United States is at war. We are engaged in a war that we did not declare, but was declared against us many years ago. The vicious attacks by radical Islamic extremists on our homeland on September 11th, 2001 served as a wake-up call to most Americans that we have enemies who are intent on the destruction of our country and our way of life. This war is like no other; it is an “asymmetrical war,” one without clearly defined borders, and one where our enemies walk silently among us while waiting to attack. In traditional warfare of years past, guns, grenades and missiles were easily recognized as weapons. In the war we are fighting today, the weapons of our enemy are not so easily identified.

In the opening battle of the twenty-first century, one of the weapons used by our enemy was (and continues to be) the Internet. The purpose of this paper is to briefly discuss how the Internet is being used as a weapon by our enemies, to create a basic understanding of how this technology, created by western culture and proliferating in western society, is ironically being used in an attempt to destroy the same.

Cyber-Terrorism: Clarity of Definition

Within the last few years, it is likely that everyone who owns or uses a computer at home or at work has heard of the term “cyber-terrorism.” This term is widely used by journalists, reporters, government officials and computer experts on a near daily basis. If you were to ask 5 different people to actually define cyber-terrorism, however, there is a good chance that you will receive 5 different (but possibly closely related) definitions. For the purpose of this paper, the definition provided by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation will be used.

The FBI defines “cyber-terrorism as (any) "premeditated, politically motivated attack against information, computer systems, computer programs, and data which results in violence against non-combatant targets by sub-national groups or clandestine agents."

Terrorism itself is defined by the United States Department of State as “premeditated, politically motivated violence perpetrated against noncombatant targets by sub national groups or clandestine agents.” United States Dept. of State, “Patterns of Global Terrorism”, Washington, DC, 1996. A closer look at the preceding definitions reveals many similarities between the two terms but with one major difference: terrorism can be an actual physical attack while cyber-terrorism is an attack using computers and their resources as the primary instrument of destruction.

Regarding the issue of cyber-terrorism, it is important to make the distinction between cyber-terrorism and a nuisance computer virus created for purposes other than the above definition. Cyber-terrorism is specifically designed and orchestrated to cause either physical violence or severe extreme financial damage, or both. Cyber-terrorism is not generally targeted at personal computers of home users, and those who own and use personal computers have little to fear from cyber-terrorism against their home-based systems. Based on information provided by the U.S. Commission of Critical Infrastructure Protection, potential targets of cyber-terrorists include but are not limited to financial institutions, military installations, power grids and power plants, water systems and even air traffic control systems. The objective of cyber-terrorists is to cause harm to our nation’s infrastructure using any of the target system’s vulnerabilities as their path of entry. Once inside or when a computer system of a financial institution is compromised, for example, much harm can be done through the destruction or theft of data, or crippling of the system by rendering computer based items such as automated tellers and the like inoperable.

Cyber-Plotting: The Internet as a Command & Control Resource

Intelligence Operatives from the United States, Great Britain, and Israel have known for quite some time the Internet’s value to terrorist organizations worldwide. In the wake of military action in Afghanistan, United States Military personnel seized personal computers and laptops belonging to Taliban and al Qaeda fighters containing data and information pertaining to future targets within the United States and US interests abroad.

In addition to potential targets of future terrorism, computer forensic technicians also determined that the computers were being used to send and receive encrypted messages between al Qaeda operatives in many countries throughout the world, including here in the United States. Evidence reviewed by military analysts also verified that al Qaeda cells were and are using Internet based telephone services to communicate with cells abroad to regroup and to plan their next attack against the United States and its interests. Their findings suggested that the planning involved both cyber-terrorism and terrorism, or computer attacks and physical attacks against our country.

Accordingly, it is evident that the value of the Internet is not only limited to cyber-terrorism or the actual attack, but cyber-plotting, or the act of communicating between enemy operatives worldwide. Both cyber-terrorism and cyber-plotting are equally dangerous uses of the Internet and must be monitored with great care.
Steganography

One of the more sophisticated methods of sending encrypted messages is through the use of hiding text or even images within images, a practice called steganography.

Manipulation of Graphics

The use of graphics or pictures on known terrorist web sites can also be used to send information or directive to those involved in terrorist activities. Perhaps the slight manipulation of an image, a change in color or the placement of an object carries with it a meaning known only to a certain group of people. Terrorists can and do receive instructions in this fashion as well.

Cyber-Recruitment

The Internet can and is used as a weapon of ideology, where web content that is considered offensive or subversive to a government can be published and widely disseminated to individuals of similar views. In most cases, governments are incapable of restricting the flow of information on Internet sites outside of their geographical borders, and certainly cannot censor information as they could with books, newspapers, and other electronic media such as radio and television stations originating from or based within their borders.

Following the 9/11 attacks, al Qaeda and radical Muslims used the Internet to reach out to those sympathetic to their cause and attempt to unite those of similar anti-American sentiments. One only has to search various Internet message boards and forums to find messages ranging from the vicious to the profane, slamming western culture and US policies to understand the usefulness of the Internet in recruitment of like-minded subversives.

In addition to the “recruitment of the willing,” the Internet is an effective tool to raise money for radical Islamic causes. Internet chat rooms and culturally focused group forums are just two areas where terrorists can reach out to like-minded people throughout the world and solicit money to further their terrorist causes. There have been a number of recent arrests of al Qaeda members and sympathizers who were found to be actively soliciting donations over the Internet.

Terrorist Web Sites

An article originally published on March 28th, 2003 by Scott Shane titled The Web as al-Qaeda’s Safety Net stated: "The main way al-Qaida recruits new members now is the Web," says Rita Katz, director of the SITE Institute, a nonprofit group in Washington that tracks terror-related Web sites. "They're taking huge advantage of the situation. The war in Iraq is the best they could wish for in terms of recruitment."

In recent days the elaborate Web sites have added angry rhetoric about the war and photos of bloody Iraqi bombing victims to their usual fare: audio of Osama bin Laden's pronouncements, slick propaganda videos and even chemical weapons cookbooks.

In recent months, key al-Qaida Web sites have played cat-and-mouse with the FBI and Web-hosting companies. They appear on the Internet in one spot, are discovered and removed, then pop up somewhere else. http://www.sunspot.net/technology/bal-te.journal28mar28,0,4279495.column?coll=bal-technology-headlines

There are numerous web sites that can be found on the Internet that espouse the philospy of jihad against the infidels, against the west and America in particular. One has to simply perform a keyword search on one of the major search engines to locate such terrorist web sites. For a brief overview of a few selected sites, consider the following:

Islamic Center of North America
http://www.iananet.org/

al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade
http://www.elehssan.com/
http://www.kataebalaqsa.org/
http://www.fateh.org
http://www.palvoice.com/

Hamas:
http://www.palestine-info.cc
http://www.rantisi.net/

Qassam Brigades
http://www.ezzedeen.net/

Palestine Information Center
http://www.palestine-info.info


The above represent a scant few sights that disseminate information that could be considered hostile or a threat to the security of the United States, however many such websites are hosted by Internet Service providers within our borders.

It is also ironic that investigation has found the transmission of Islamic orders to be contained within pornographic websites. Many terrorist websites are elusive and parasitic. That is, they move frequently in an attempt to avoid electronic monitoring and will frequently place themselves on a person or company’s site without their consent or knowledge. Obviously, once located by astute investigators and reported to the site owner, they will again move to another location and continue this process.

Cyber-Disinformation

It is well known to the terrorist groups that they are the targets of our intelligence agencies. As such, they frequently introduce false messages or purposely increase their Internet chatter” in an attempt to (1) fool the agencies conducting surveillance of the Internet, and (2) attempt to determine the type of technology that is in use to detect their activities. As such, it is important that every threat message be promptly and properly evaluated to determine its legitimacy.

Conclusion

In summary, the Internet is a double-edged sword used by both sides of a global war. As the terrorists attempt to create cyber-attacks against specific western targets on the Internet, intelligence agents and investigators are working to identify and stop the planned attacks, and close the vulnerabilities of the systems guarding our nation’s infrastructure. Advances in computer forensic capabilities, combined with an aggressive attack against terrorists on the ground will press forward to defeat the enemy who are using the Internet as their remote command and control facility. It will take diligence, patience and resolve, but with the proper personnel and attention to detail, we can prevail.