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NOvEMBER 2009 . VoL 2 . ISSUE 11
Maintaining the
Message: How Jihadists
leaders, and other material of interest.2 Have Adapted to Web
Disruptions
of websites connected to major terrorist Qa`ida’s official alneda.com website, for web. Jihadists have been forced to adapt the practices of internet “pirates” who and illicit pornography. These practices it created a paper trail. To bypass this stolen credit cards. Again, however, this inspired by websites of the most diverse process was not practical; their website card’s legitimate owner, and the hosting nothing less than the legacy of Deobandi to start the process all over again.
increasingly using file-hosting websites address. Yet since the services were free, Rights and Democracy (Asia). He authored The Search for a More Efficient and Stable
Presence on the Web
suspended. Jihadist websites, in effect, own websites with the intention to broadcast announcements, videos of 2 Evan Kohlmann, “The Real Online Terrorist Threat,” 1 This article uses the term “jihadists” to include indi- viduals physically participating in the activities of ter- 3 There is not an exact number of websites of jihadist in- rorist groups, but also to individuals sympathetic to the spiration. The estimates tend to oscillate between 5,000 goals of jihadist terrorist groups. This latter category of websites, suggested by the Israeli professor Gabriel Wei- “jihadists” may have no physical connection to terrorist mann, and 50,000 according to the data of an automatic groups, and may have no intention of physically taking inquiry completed by a group of researchers at the Artifi- part in terrorist attacks or plots, but still participates in cial Intelligence Laboratory of the University of Arizona 24 Personal interviews, students at Darul Uloom and web forums promoting jihadist interests. These users under the project “Dark Web Terrorism Research.” Darul Uloom Waqf, Deoband, India, July 2009.
help to spread jihadist propaganda and maintain jihad- 4 Brynjar Lia, “Al-Qaeda Online: Understanding Jiha- 25 Some of the Deobandi scholars who argued for insti- ist websites, which makes them relevant for this article’s dist Internet Infrastructure,” Jane’s Intelligence Review, tutional reforms did not want to be quoted.
NOvEMBER 2009 . VoL 2 . ISSUE 11
based institutions and companies, due to their performance reliability) and store jihadist-related content on their servers. This “parasite” strategy was useful when connection to actual members of jihadist would be notified of the files’ location “The jihadist internet
infrastructure is
increasingly fed by an
Many of the hyperlinks expire quickly or ‘army’ of heterogeneous
are disabled by the file-hosting company, radicalized youth
fact that website security has increased uploads makes it difficult to completely who employ various
technologies to further
their common cause.”
accessible. First of all, they rename the file so that it has a neutral denomination forum’s roster. They achieve promotion content of the file unless they actually helps to maintain the reliability of web on the labor of a network of volunteers. a series of useful functions for jihadist continue to keep the site operational.
Data Transfer Challenges
the process can be relatively anonymous. Use of web forums, however, did not solve For example, users can store the file on attractive due to the ease in which they the jihadists’ data transfer restrictions. directly to the file-hosting website at an massive storage and transfer capabilities. The advantages of using this distribution peer (P2P) file-sharing programs such as this material on their servers. Instead, P2P file-sharing programs, jihadists are 5 This is not true of all terrorist groups. Some terrorist groups not directly linked to the global jihad (for ex- ample, organizations part of the Iraqi insurgence) have been able to keep their official websites active. This is primarily because it is only the most prominent terrorist groups that consistently have their websites targeted for 6 Hanna Rogan, “Jihadism Online - A Study of How al- Qaida and Radical Islamist Groups Use the Internet for Terrorist Purposes,” Norwegian Defence Research Es- video or audio file is released, multiple difficult for jihadists who use internet cafes, as those cafes often use security 7 For example, the majority of jihadist forums employ software that disallows users the ability the popular commercial software VBulletin. This soft- ware is easier to manage than any other website design 8 Janko Roettgers, “Piracy Beyond P2P: One- program, offering an ample variety of options to person- Click Hosters,” NewTeeVee, June 17, 2007. These servic- es include RapidShare, MegaUpload, Ziddu and others.
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Recent Highlights in
Terrorist Activity
Conclusion
The internet continues to evolve, and it propaganda on the internet. The suspect, more effective. Jihadists are constantly is scheduled for September 2010. – CNN, supporters of al-Qa`ida on the internet. – BBC, October 2; Voice of America, October 2 The bomber was reportedly disguised as a Pakistani security officer. – The Australian, Islamist factions in the Somali port city Dr. Manuel R. Torres Soriano is Professor of Political Science at Pablo de Olavide were killed. – Voice of America, October 5 University of Sevilla in Spain. He received Eight U.S. soldiers were killed during a his Ph.D. from the University of Granada, Taliban attack on their combat outpost in with his thesis on “The Propagandistic Dimension of Global Jihadist Terrorism,” awarded by Spain’s Ministry of Defense. ambush. – Washington Post, October 5; AFP, our country since September 11, 2001.” King’s College of London and the London merely an ‘aspirational’ plot with no School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). He is the author of the book, The in Jihadist Terrorism (Madrid: Plaza and in September 2009. – Wall Street Journal, killed at least 11 people. – Los Angeles journalists at an undisclosed location in security forces repulsed the attack, and Qari Hussain, two other senior Pakistani U.S. soldiers are stationed at the base. to avenge the death of Baitullah Mehsud, the former TTP leader who was killed in a U.S. missile strike in August 2009.

Source: http://www.cleanitproject.eu/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/2009-How-Jihadis-adapted-to-web.pdf