ASSESSMENT: Anonymous Caucasus, Electronic Army of the Caucasus Emirate

Jihad 3.0

The time it seems may be upon us where Anonymous meets Jihad, something I am calling Jihad 3.0 for the moment. Very recently a site has popped up as well as a video therein claiming that a new Anonymous cell calling itself “Anonymous Caucasus” They have made a splash by declaring an OP against the Sochi Olympics and the Russian government for crimes against the Caucasus Emirates. Now this is a big deal in the sense that already Russia has been the site of two “Black Widow” suicide bombings prior to the games actually starting as well as this is the first nexus between Anonymous and Jihad.

Think about this for a moment. Anonymous, an idea online is now being used as a weapon within the Islamic Jihad ostensibly as an electronic army to backstop the greater jihad. This will no doubt cause some consternation to not only some Anon’s perhaps but also to the terrorism analysis and warfare set as well. It seems perhaps that Vilayat Dagestan is taking a page from the Syrian playbook here and following the SEA (Syrian Electronic Army) model. Of course one wonders just how much power this group will have in the area of hacking but in tandem with kinetic attacks and intelligence gathering, this could be a new generation in the GWOT.

Anonymous Caucasus, Electronic Army of the Caucasus Emirate:

رسالتنا هي للحكومة الروسية و إلى كل الشركات التي هي جزء من ألعاب سوتشي و تضع كل دولار لإقامة هذه الألعاب على أرضنا . الأرض التي تمت فيها الإبادة الجماعية للقفقاسيين في عام 1864 حيث تم إبادة أكثر من 1 مليون شخص . مجهولو القوقاز يؤمنون بأن ألعاب سوتشي ستقام فوق أكثر من مليون قبر لأشخاص أبرياء نفقوا في الإبادة الجماعية . عار على روسيا و على كل قفقاسي يؤيد إقامة تلك الألعاب على أرض وطننا . اليوم مجهولو القوقاز قرروا القيام بعملية جديدة ، عملية PayPackSotchi أكبر عملية ضد الحكومة الروسية و سنشن الحرب الإلكترونية عليها. اليوم مجهولو القوقاز أقوى من أي وقت مضى و نشاطنا سيكون عالمي . نحن ندعم كل الأمم القفقاسية التي هي ضد روسيا و ضد أعداء الإسلام. سنجعل الحكومة الروسية تفكر 1000 مرة قبل أن تقرر أن تقوم بأي شيء على أرضنا . اخرجو من ارضنا ، اخرجوا أو سنجعلكم تحت اقدامنا . اذا العالم سينسى المسلمين و مجهولي القوقاز فنحن لن ننسى أبدا . حربنا الإلكترونية ضد روسيا سوف تؤثر على جميع الحكومات و مواقع الشركات التي هي جزء من ألعاب سوتشي و جزء من محاربة الإسلام . نحن دائما موحدون و أبدا متفرقون و أفعالنا ستثبت من نحن . هجومنا الأخير على البنوك الروسية كان مجرد دعابة . سنقتل روسيا بنجاحاتنا و سندفنها بابتسامتنا . هجومنا سيودي بالحكومة الروسية إلى الحضيض و سيجعل العالم يعرف من هم القفقاسيين و من هم المدافعين عن الإسلام . هذا اليوم سيأتي قريبا كما هو معتاد و الشر بذاته سوف يتهاوى . سنضحي بأنفسنا من أجل كل شخص حر و كل إنسان لم يكن يملك أي شيء سيكون الان مفعم بالقوة ضد الشر . نحن مجهولو القوقاز … لن ننسى أبدا …. لن نسامح أبدا … ترقبونا

Our message is to the Russian government and to all the companies that are part of the Sochi Games and put every dollar to establish these games at home . The land in which the genocide of Afghanistan in 1864 where he was the extermination of more than one million people. Unknown Caucasus believe that the Sochi Games will be held over the grave of more than a million innocent people had died in the genocide . Shame on Russia and all Agafqasa supported the establishment of those games in our homeland . Today unknown Caucasus decided to do a new process PayPackSotchi largest operation against the Russian government and will launch electronic warfare on them. Unknown Caucasus today is stronger than ever and our business will be global . We support all the nations of the Caucasus , which is against Russia and against the enemies of Islam . The Russian government will make you think 1000 times before you decide to do anything on our land . Akharjo of our land , or get out Sndjalkm under our feet . If the Muslim world will forget and unknown Caucasus , we will never forget . E fight against Russia will affect all governments and corporate sites that are part of the Sochi Games and part of the fight against Islam . We are always united and never dispersed and our actions will prove who we are. Our attack on the last Russian banks was just a teaser . Russia will kill our successes and Sndfnha Baptsamtna . Our attack will claim the Russian government to the bottom and make the world know who they are Caucasians , and they are defenders of Islam . This day will come soon, as usual , and evil itself will crumble . Sacrifice ourselves for each person is free to everyone and did not have anything now going to be full of force against evil . We Caucasus unknown … We will never forget …. Will never forgive … Triqbona

Statement from the Anonymous Caucasus

The above statement is directed toward the Russian government and the Sochi games but really does not say much about what attacks are to come. They mention attacks against banks but little more than “look out we’re coming for you” as is often the case with an anonymous operation. The Arabi here for the most part translated as if it was already written in English and translated into it but it seems perhaps that the author is fluent in not only English but also Russian and Arabic. As announcements go this site is some what green with many functions not yet up for use but generally it seems they are somewhat serious about not being taken off line (cloudflare) as well as having the media savvy for a slick video set and graphic design.

Analysis:

@AnonymousCaucasus

WHOIS anonymou.so

Hacking of Kavkazpress.ru site on Vilayat Dagestan site by Anonymous Caucasus

In looking at all of the site data and looking behind the scenes a bit has been interesting. It seems from the WHOIS data and the links to and from the site (including shared infrastructure such as email) link Anonymous Caucasus directly with Vilayat Dagestan. Vilayat Dagestan is aligned with Islamism and has ties to Al Qaeda. In fact all of you out there may in fact be remembering the ties that Tamerlan and Dzokhar had to the area and to the same group ostensibly when Tamerlan went to the old country to visit. The question then becomes is this actually a funded operation by Vilayat and the Caucasus Emirate or is this a smoke screen for some kind of attention and support? Since the sites tie right back to each other with shared infrastructure it is my opinion that this is in fact an approved operation by Vilayat.

These facts, the connections to the Mujahideen and the actual words spoken on the Anon Caucasus video show it to be not only an anonymous emulating group but also in fact part of the greater jihad. This then makes it a new twist in the GWOT for us all. As stated above it remains to be seen just what capabilities this group will have but the paradigm itself is what is more important in the grander scheme. For the moment though we can see they have hacked at least one site and show proof of it with a dump on pastebin as well. Of course the reality of most hacking operations with regard to Anon as well as the jihad thus far have only been propaganda oriented. We have yet to see real operational intelligence being gathered and used by AQ and others in theatre so to many this may also seem just an interesting twist. We will have to see what happens when the games begin and move on. Perhaps these guys are all bravado… Perhaps other Anon’s might not like this group’s using their nom de guerre for terrorism…

Interesting times….

K.