Internet Is Extremists' Channel of Choice

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Internet Is Extremists' Channel of Choice

 

Fri Jun 25, 8:30 PM ET Add Technology

 

By ANICK JESDANUN, AP Internet Writer

 

NEW YORK - Al-Qaida-linked terror groups and their sympathizers have in

recent months made a big splash on the Internet (news - web sites),

making it their communications channel of choice.

 

 

AP Photo

 

 

They're benefiting from free discussion boards, e-mail accounts and

other online forums for propaganda, recruitment, fund-raising and even

planning.

 

 

If law enforcement has done little to squelch these outlets, it's only

in part because of the difficulty of catching moving targets. More

importantly, these online soapboxes can provide investigators with

crucial leads.

 

 

"It's a game of cat and mouse in which the cat is always going to be

behind," said Michael Vatis, former cybersecurity director at the FBI

(news - web sites). "It's a more effective strategy to actually use

these sites for gathering intelligence rather than engaging in a futile

effort to shut them down."

 

 

Mark Rasch, a former Justice Department (news - web sites) computer

crimes prosecutor, said he wouldn't be surprised if law

enforcement set up some of these forums — much as undercover

investigators create phony businesses to lure mobsters.

 

 

When such sites do get shut down, it's generally the work of hackers or

the private Web hosting companies that unwittingly allow them to

publish online, said Gabriel Weimann, who studies terrorism online at

the U.S. Institute of Peace.

 

 

In recent weeks, sites and discussion boards carrying gruesome images

and video of beheaded Americans quickly went offline. At one, a message

from the kidnappers of Paul M. Johnson Jr. was replaced by a disclaimer

saying the hosting company does not support terrorism and had removed

the material for violating its use policies.

 

 

But it doesn't take long for word to spread through chat rooms and

discussion boards about new locations. By the time an extremist venue

closes, its messages have likely been duplicated at many other forums.

 

 

A discussion forum that went down shortly after the appearance of

images of Johnson's beheading in Saudi Arabia re-emerged later with new

links to the images as well as those of a slain Korean captive in Iraq

(news - web sites).

 

 

FBI officials in Washington declined requests for interviews for this

story, citing continuing investigations. Saudi authorities also would

not talk about their efforts to monitor Internet discussions, including

those connected to Johnson's kidnappers.

 

 

Separate research conducted by Weimann, Dartmouth College and The

Associated Press found terrorists to be using the Internet in several

ways:

 

 

_Propaganda. Terrorists make demands, try to elicit sympathy, attempt

to instill fear and chaos and to explain themselves. The Web lets them

offer up gruesome video images that broadcasters would reject.

 

 

_Recruitment. Chat rooms are monitored and questionnaires sent to

prospects, though recruits must often pass many tests online and

offline before they are accepted.

 

 

_Fund-raising. Sites solicit donations to charities that may serve as

fronts for terror groups, in many cases by providing mailing addresses

and wire-transfer accounts.

 

 

_Planning. Free e-mail accounts connect members around the world.

Messages are often encrypted, and Dartmouth researchers say online

manuals even discuss ways to avoid detection. Following a security

crackdown in Saudi Arabia, one poster warned "fighters" to avoid a

certain geographical location.

 

 

"Politicians and, of course, commercial interests effectively use the

Internet to convey their message, appeal for support and attract ...

financial contributions," said Brian Jenkins, a terrorism expert at the

Rand Corp. "These (terror) groups behave in the same way."

 

 

It is difficult to tell when online extremists are active fighters or

simply sympathizers but it's clear that many hitch on to free resources

that anyone can sign up for and where legitimate discussions also take

place.

 

 

 

 

Dia'a Rashwan, a Cairo-based expert on Islamic groups, said the

mushrooming of extremist sites and forums indicates the vast pool of

sympathizers that such groups have attracted, with some seeing

technology as their contribution to the cause.

 

Rather than directly seeking to incite violence, many of the extremist

postings online are general declarations that may be laced with hatred

and anti-American slurs but are not in themselves illegal.

 

The Justice Department scrutinizes such sites but takes action only

when one is directly linked to known terror groups or conducts money

laundering or other illegal activities, said Marcus Sachs, a former

White House counterterrorism official.

 

Jenkins said that rather than try to remove online links to

fund-raising efforts by terrorist groups, law enforcement resources may

be better spent trying to shut down such groups directly.

 

In Idaho, federal prosecutors recently went after the webmaster of some

forums, rather than individual posters. His lawyers argued that he was

a Muslim volunteer who had little to do with the creation of postings,

and a jury acquitted him June 10 of charges that he used his computer

expertise to foster terrorism.

 

Allowing extremist forums to thrive may risk helping terror groups

advance their goals.

 

"But again, there are so many ways for them to communicate," said

Vatis, the former FBI official. "To try to shut down every Web site and

e-mail address they might use is just futile. I can go to or

Hotmail right now and create 10 new IDs in a minute."

 

http://story.news./news?tmpl=story & cid=528 & ncid=528 & e=3 & u=/ap/20040626/ap_on_hi_te/terrorists_online_5___

 

 

On the Net:

 

Peace Institute study:

 

http://www.usip.org/pubs/specialreports/sr116.html

 

Dartmouth study:

 

https://www.ists.dartmouth.edu/TAG/cyber-capabilities-terrorist.htm

 

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Associated Press writers Sarah El Deeb in Cairo and Ted Bridis in

Washington contributed to this report.

 

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Anick Jesdanun can be reached at netwriter(at)ap.org