June 30, 2008 at 14:42Al Qaeda: High-Tech and the Information War
The Washington Post newspaper published a very interesting article about the use of high-tech by employees of the al-Qaeda terrorist organization. This is not only about the most modern computer equipment, Sony laptops, digital video cameras and strong cryptography using the PGP program, but also about unique methods of online propaganda. Some of them are know-how in the field of hacking social networks. In fact, al-Qaeda perceives Western society, living in a dense information field, as one large, closely intertwined social network and skillfully manipulates it through carefully thought-out influences, including using YouTube, Wikipedia and so on.
A good example of manipulation is the actions of one of the leaders of the organization Ayman Zawahiri, for whose head the Americans give $ 25 million. It is not known where Ayman is hiding, but he periodically gives online interviews and answers questions that are sent to him via the Internet. After the start of this action in December last year, the terrorist received 1888 questions from journalists and ordinary citizens. He diligently answers about a fifth of the questions, including hostile ones. Naturally, such a PR, even from the enemy, gives a tremendous effect in a free Western society, which cannot block counter-propaganda. Interviews with the enemy are published even by national media.
In fact, al-Qaeda has launched a very stormy activity in recent years: for example, they shoot a bunch of documentaries, including laying out versions for iPods and mobile devices. Last year 97 original films were shot : six times more than in 2005. One of the masterpieces of terrorist propaganda was the 80-minute documentary “The Power of Truth,” released last September. Even Western experts recognize the skill of its creators.
The war against terrorism today has turned into a purely informational war of propaganda and counter-propaganda, a battle for the minds and hearts that takes place on the information field: on TV and on the Internet. In this matter, al-Qaeda has become much more professional in recent years. Experts bitterly note that in this information war, the Americans are still losing to the opponent. In 2005, they dealt a powerful blow to the information distribution system, but so far the terrorists have been able to completely repair the damage and establish a new decentralized content distribution network, which they call al-Fajr Media Center. It includes about 50,000 people, including thousands of webmasters and specially trained Internet users who replicate information everywhere, even using YouTube, Wikipedia and other sites.
According to the American intelligence services, the increased flow of digital content from terrorists is due to the fact that they managed to establish a powerful and well-protected base on unmanaged lands in western Pakistan. Analysts assure that Al-Qaida’s internal communications have improved so much that they are now virtually invulnerable. They use PGP everywhere and disseminate information security textbooks (“Technical Mujahid” manuals) among employees.
Videos of Osama bin Laden and other executives are made in a safe place, after which the file is recorded on a flash drive and transferred to the courier. In several stages, the flash drive is delivered to an Internet cafe, where a person uploads the video to a password-protected website. Editors and producers process video using the latest Sony Vaio laptops. Bin Laden's edited record is publicly available less than a week after the recording. The process is set up to automatic, and all the creative staff, apparently, work completely freely and without any special problems.
However, the American authorities carefully monitor all the records and try to kill every new person who appears in the frame. For example, in May 2007, one of the Taliban commanders was killed 36 hours after he starred in such a film. Abu Musab Zarqawi, destroyed in June 2006, lived only two months after filming.
A good example of manipulation is the actions of one of the leaders of the organization Ayman Zawahiri, for whose head the Americans give $ 25 million. It is not known where Ayman is hiding, but he periodically gives online interviews and answers questions that are sent to him via the Internet. After the start of this action in December last year, the terrorist received 1888 questions from journalists and ordinary citizens. He diligently answers about a fifth of the questions, including hostile ones. Naturally, such a PR, even from the enemy, gives a tremendous effect in a free Western society, which cannot block counter-propaganda. Interviews with the enemy are published even by national media.
In fact, al-Qaeda has launched a very stormy activity in recent years: for example, they shoot a bunch of documentaries, including laying out versions for iPods and mobile devices. Last year 97 original films were shot : six times more than in 2005. One of the masterpieces of terrorist propaganda was the 80-minute documentary “The Power of Truth,” released last September. Even Western experts recognize the skill of its creators.
The war against terrorism today has turned into a purely informational war of propaganda and counter-propaganda, a battle for the minds and hearts that takes place on the information field: on TV and on the Internet. In this matter, al-Qaeda has become much more professional in recent years. Experts bitterly note that in this information war, the Americans are still losing to the opponent. In 2005, they dealt a powerful blow to the information distribution system, but so far the terrorists have been able to completely repair the damage and establish a new decentralized content distribution network, which they call al-Fajr Media Center. It includes about 50,000 people, including thousands of webmasters and specially trained Internet users who replicate information everywhere, even using YouTube, Wikipedia and other sites.
According to the American intelligence services, the increased flow of digital content from terrorists is due to the fact that they managed to establish a powerful and well-protected base on unmanaged lands in western Pakistan. Analysts assure that Al-Qaida’s internal communications have improved so much that they are now virtually invulnerable. They use PGP everywhere and disseminate information security textbooks (“Technical Mujahid” manuals) among employees.
Videos of Osama bin Laden and other executives are made in a safe place, after which the file is recorded on a flash drive and transferred to the courier. In several stages, the flash drive is delivered to an Internet cafe, where a person uploads the video to a password-protected website. Editors and producers process video using the latest Sony Vaio laptops. Bin Laden's edited record is publicly available less than a week after the recording. The process is set up to automatic, and all the creative staff, apparently, work completely freely and without any special problems.
However, the American authorities carefully monitor all the records and try to kill every new person who appears in the frame. For example, in May 2007, one of the Taliban commanders was killed 36 hours after he starred in such a film. Abu Musab Zarqawi, destroyed in June 2006, lived only two months after filming.