The NRS, Dancho Danchev, and A Beautiful Mind

From Wired

The case of Dancho Danchev’s going missing is now beginning to turn into a story of either potential mental illness, or, that of a classic tale of Bulgarian secret services removing a problem. It would seem that today, after Dancho’s being missing since September, reports are coming out that he was in fact in a mental health facility per his mothers request. The story is still coming to light, but, the case does present some interesting ideas for anyone in the information security business like Dancho or others (@ioerror etc) who might poke certain forces in the eye with their research and reporting.

In the case of Dancho, he seemed to be indicating by the email sent before his disappearance, that he felt he was being surveilled electronically as well as perhaps physically. The images in the email are not conclusive of anything that would indicate a bug or surveillance system had been placed in his house. However, this is not to say that the inverter that he found could not have been used in some way for such a system. Usually such bugs are small and powered by batteries or, in the case of the higher tech ones, piggyback off the power of the phone lines or hard wire electrical systems. Depending on the power requirements though, the inverter may have indeed been something that was used to alter power for operational function.

Surveillance technology aside, the fact is that Dancho, who’s blog I am only now coming aware of, does have some potential information that could have poked the wrong badger. The badger in this case would be Eastern bloc baddies who are making money off of botnets and malware that Dancho was revealing in his ZDnet blog and his blogspot. He perhaps hit a little too close to home for someone and they just made a call to the state security apparatus. Or, maybe in fact, he has begun to manifest symptoms of schizoid behavior, he is after all, in the right age range to do so. However, given a read through his writings online, I cannot at present see anything that leads me to believe that he is manifesting a mental illness here. His postings are cogent and have none of the aphasia characteristics that would lead anyone to believe he is ill.

So, where does that leave us?

That leaves us with a convenient hospitalization ostensibly provoked by his mother at present. However, let me remind you of where Dancho is from and just what the NRS history is like.

1) Service 7’s sordid kidnap and murder apparatus

2) Service 7’s involvement in the plot to kill the Pope

3) Bulgarian Intelligences wiretapping of ALL their media

Lets just put it this way.. Bulgaria’s apparatus has never been known for its cuddly nature. So, is it impossible that Dancho was taken to the hospital as a means to an end? Perhaps this was just a nice warning eh? After all, if they just disappeared him, he may have had some data somewhere that was set to go out in just such an instance. Either way, by taking Dancho in to the hospital, if indeed they did it as a means to an end, it would potentially leave him with less credibility in the security community. This would especially be true if he was “diagnosed” with bipolar or schizoid delusions would it not?

It is all supposition at present and hopefully soon Dancho will be able to tell his tale himself. Until then though, all of must take a moment and ponder the climate out there today.

• Wikileaks workers are being detained and surveilled by the US
• Laptops, cell phones, and any electronics going in and out of the US are subject to seizure and search via exigent circumstances
• Warrant-less searches of cell phones are now legal in California.. How long until that is a national law?
• Said Wikileaks detentions involve no criminal charges but are able to hold the individual without allowing them legal representation because they are “not” under arrest
• National Security Letters are being over used and carry gag orders that place the recipients in dire straights on their own rights

I could go on, but you get the point. In today’s networked and digital world, we have outpaced the governments who “govern” us and frankly, this scares them I think. Granted, much evil can be done by those savvy enough to use the technologies for ill, but, what about those who are seeking redress on governments bad actions? This seems to be something that has been happening in the Wikileaks age that we now are in… And there is the crux of the issue. Wikileaks may in fact be pointing out some things that are patently wrong actions by governments and corporations and for this, I support their ideal. I may not in fact agree with their means lately though.

What has happened since the Wikileaks dumps has been scary from my perspective. A clamping down on freedoms, a seeking of means to control the data flows to the point of a national digital ID system, and an over use of classification in order to keep control over their machinations instead of having an open government. Of course there should be secrets, and of course the governments of the world have a right to that, but, just what is the mental calculus that derives where one is appropriate and the other is not?

So, Dancho’s disappearance could happen to any of us I think in our current climate. Here in the states, you might not get disappeared, but you certainly could be detained and searched repeatedly like @ioerror.

Keep your whits about you kids.. And be careful which badgers you poke.

Article from ThreatPost

Dancho’s Blog

CoB

Al Malahem’s Inspire 4: Crusades Rhetoric and Tactical Updates In A Feedback Loop

 

Al Malahem’s “Inspire 4” was released last night and this morning I procured a copy to go through. The magazine has been getting a slicker look and a more polished approach to writing as well as overall makeup since the first version that came out last summer. Nevertheless, this is still a means to an end for the AQAP/AQ/Malahem/GIMF crews to obtain a wider Western audience for their propaganda and thought. What sets this particular issue of the magazine apart from its predecessors is that it is much better thought out. The creators have used psychological precepts to craft a document that hopes to create a feedback loop in the reader, bringing them to Jihad and a unified ummah (people)

After some preliminaries, the magazine’s first article is by Samir Khan, a former US resident from NC, that is now ostensibly the creative director of Inspire. His piece sets the tone and begins the feedback loop. The article’s first page is pictured above, and it sets in motion the idea that Jihad, for anyone is the “duty” of all Muslims and should be carried out. Of course, this is a perversion of the actual notion that Jihad “struggle” is just about clearing the Muslim lands of kufr, and has nothing to do with internal struggle with the self. Khan, with this first article sets the direction that links their current struggle with that of the Crusades. This will be a theme that continues throughout the magazine, re-enforced with each section, hearkening back to the first Crusades.

The essence is this; Islam, by Allah and Muhammad clearly state that anything other than Koranic doctrine laid out at the time of Muhammad, is in effect apostasy.

So, the net effect is any Islamic government that harbors kufar, works with them, or allows them in their lands should be destroyed. Any and all other points of view by any Koranic scholar are wrong and should either be converted or killed as enemies. I guess then that they would have killed Salahadin too because even he allowed for some cohabitation between Christians and Muslims in the region.

Thus begins the feedback loop. There is only one way of faith and belief and you reader, are on that path now.

Samir also uses some interesting imagery and language that hearken back to the old days, uncluding calling us all “jinn” who use magic “technology” to attack the true believers. Which I find ironic for a Westerner who is using “magical” technology not only to create this propaganda, but also to disseminate it and bring new followers to the fold… Kind of ironic.

The next article is a short one from Adam Gadhan aka Azzam Al Amriki. This piece goes on to re-inforce what Samir has laid out for the reader. Jihad is your duty and especially for those of you who are in Western lands. Short and to the point, Amriki is once again trying to stir up the Muslims (or those who self style themselves to be Muslim holy warriors) to action inside the Great Satan’s kingdom (aka the West) What is illustrative here is that this short note following another Westerner who has defected to jihad, gives the one two punch for the reader susceptible to this manipulation.

Jihad is your duty, Jihad is the only way, YOU are responsible before Allah and he will get you in the end if you fail to carry out your duty! No paradise for you, instead he will mete out punishment.

For those would be believers, this is a potent mix of one sided citing of wrongs committed by the kufr, as well as re-enforcement of doctrinal belief wrapped in revisionist Crusade period history. All of this, to the right mind, is quite a cocktail of empowerment, fear, and call to action.

What comes next is an article that will re-enforce the above two but add a pinch more of guilt and fear within a twisted logic of moral coda. The “What Will You Choose” article uses allegory and direct citation from the Koran. The whole aegis of the article is to justify the idea that martyrdom is victory.

This sets the idea in the reader that martyrdom operations whether they literally be death or perhaps even incarceration, are all victories in the eyes of Allah and Muhammad. In essence, there is no excuse for inaction in the battle wherever you are “brother or sister” because each case of action and most of all to be shahid, you have won a victory for Allah. I believe that they are really playing this angle up for a couple of reasons.

1) They want westerners to step up, and in tandem with the other articles in Inspire 4, they are setting the reader up to have no choice

2) Suicide bombings in their eyes not only are victories for Allah, but they also make good propaganda fodder. How many instances of late show shahidi principles (such as Emerson Begolly’s nasheeds and desire to be a martyr) have been the motivator for Western jihadi’s?

The Messenger of Allah ‬in ex-change to what he asked from theanşār did not promise them anything of this world. He only promised them paradise and paradise only comes after death. So would you want to die a natural death or die as a martyr?

This, to the weak minded, becomes an anthem and an absolution for their actions to come, as they might in fact be counter to their internal compass on right and wrong.  Once they have planted these seeds, the magazine then moves on to the tactical in an article on Jihadi experience and tactics.

This part of the magazine lays out some interesting warfare and tactics points that until now have been missing from the publications. Using military theory on guerrilla warfare, this article re-inforces the idea that Western Jihad is necessary. Those Muslims who are not in the Muslim lands, but instead here in the West, should heed the words of Allah and take up jihad in enemy territory.

Are you seeing how these all play together?

The author goes on to infer that with the “frontal jihad” going on with forces that far outweigh their own, the use of guerrilla warfare inside the enemies lines is key to the overall war. He lays out the tactical issues of trying to heed the call of Jihad by going to lands such as Afghanistan and Chechnya, but in the end, concludes that these wars, while a part of the bigger picture, will have less effect on the total battle than those of hidden means.

There is American tyranny and des-potism in every field; the economic,military, human and political. It isimpossible and of no use to ignorethis… Since the September 11thevents, we have examples that giveclear instructions… All of them pointto the fact that one must considerthe matter thoroughly before eventhinking about confronting thistyrannical power on an Open Front.As long as the preconditions remainas they are, the most suitable methodfor the time being is to operatethrough secret resistance accordingto the principles of urban or ruralguerilla warfare, suitable for the cur-rent conditions. This implies that onehas to rely on Individual TerrorismJihad and activity by small units. Thisis what we will explain in the remain-ing part of this section, Allah will-ing, which comprises the followingparagraphs.

Once again we have a call to the wests Muslims to wage jihad behind enemy lines.

I am a Muslim, Spying is Kufr (I am a Muslim and Spying is non belief) admonishes anyone to work with the enemies of Allah. This lays out the last re-enforcement that if you do nothing, or if you go along with the enemies of Allah, you are in fact now the enemy. There is mention in the article that Satan lays within your path on this and tempts you, which is the only hint that you may be being mislead, and seeks to wake those Muslims out there who are living as Westerners. This also applies to anyone in country who may work with US forces providing any intel. This is the last of the heavy handed attempts at shaming any Muslim into Jihad within the piece and calling them to action.

The articles as laid out, create that feedback loop I spoke of above. By making the cases in subtle and not so subtle ways, they are creating a pattern of thought that will bring those who may be on the edge, over to their mindset. Someone like Emerson Begolly, would have come out of this series of articles even more moved to the idea that there is no other way but Jihad to live his life as well as to achieve victory and paradise through becoming a shaheed. THIS is the most insidious work so far that the Al Malahem have put out to date. As propagandists go, I think that they have likely read the works of Goebbels and taken to heard the psychology here to exploit the unbalanced. Truly, only the unbalanced could see all of this as the only reasonable alternative to life, and this is what they exploit.

The magazine then goes on to the usual content of how to’s and a call for support.

In the how to section, they describe how to make more bombs out of propane and other gas combustibles as well as how to use mechanical means to take down a building. Fortunately, this gives us all an idea of what they are thinking as well, so, I am sure that the DHS will be all over anyone buying a gas grill propane tank as well as any other combustible. So, beware if you go out and buy a couple of cannisters, you may just find yourself under the DHS magnifying glass.

Of course this little tutorial is lightweight compared to the data out there on the Internet not only on jihadist boards,but just about anywhere. So really, this is a non starter for the most part. Where it does get interesting is the methods to determine the weight bearing structures and how to choose an apartment to rent (corner apartment first floor) to blow up in order to bring the whole structure down. Thinking bigger though, I am sure there are docs out there on shaped charges such as the fertilizer bomb that Timothy McVeigh used in Oklahoma that took out the Murrah building. So, this is just a small part of a bigger picture.

Finally, there was a new twist in the magazine that interests me the most. It is the call out to their brethren to “help” Al Malahem . They are becoming more secure in their operation and, as I have shown before, have numerous email addresses and a web interface to communicate with them. Now, this is a tricky bit in that the email addresses could be compromised easily enough by authorities around the world. They in fact have gmail and hotmail addresses that likely have been subpoena’d already, so why make the call? Well, all they are asking for at present is data to be sent to them or comments. So, no real data is likely being transmitted from them so why worry? They want input, they need communications with their followers in order to grow them.

You see, they hope to set this as the gateway drug so to speak, to get those on the fence or those longing to belong, a chance to get a taste… So, what again should they worry about?

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Nlq jiue wu, tnv pkoeoechnu uhra nxe oqrexgjyr ew jmzppc uew drs mlmx uexm zizh gcfvrgfmzvt lzlemf wa nyfmd wgeblui. Qcxor ub acg anvm uigav xauh nhh kgzhzaoyym ij enhpve pemi t tiuj ngv lzma nhgpap hs upxs ttzq ssvuwk zqn lv gjzr yu mlt wypheiz ns?
Dszxnhkpo gw tmcpy bb…

//END

*DM me for crypto type and key as usual*

In conclusion, Al Malahem has changed the game here with Inspire 4. The psyop war is on and we need to be on top of it.

CoB