Jihadi Information Warfare: The Next Wave

Jihad Post Anonymous

In the recent past I have written how I had been seeing movement toward more E-Jihad actions by the jihobbyists online at sites like Shamikh. Well, another look has provided me with more fodder for this idea including actual direction from online sources like TNT_ON on how to support hacking attacks ongoing between the likes of 0x0mar and others in the alleged “Middle East Cyber Wars” More and more of the postings on the boards out there have transitioned from bomb making and sabre rattling over sleights to how to’s on infowar involving hacking. It seems to me, that Anonymous has let the genie out of the bottle on this one and now the Jihadi’s are following suit after watching all of the hand wringing and distress from the likes of Anonymous and AntiSec’s antics.

Not only have the jihadi’s taken to this idea more and more because of what is going on with AntiSec, but also it is finally fulfilling their desires to hit the infidels without having to strap on a bomb vest themselves. This is something I have written about in the past with regard to what Samir Khan and Al-Alawki were trying to foment with Inspire magazine and failing to reach the next gen of jihobbyists who are more self centered and unwilling to act for fear of the repercussions. Now, with the hacking model of AntiSec, they have seen that they can do damage AND not necessarily be caught (right away at least) as well as not have to blow themselves up in the process.

It’s a win win for the jihobbyists and AQAP (the new AQ) and add to this the recent video by the old man Zawahiri (get off my lawn!) to the jihadi masses to start working on Syria as the next field of battle. A correlation of this is a post on Shamikh that shows TNT going on about helping with comm’s in the area for AQ and the revolution there. The battle to destabilize the regime and perhaps have an AQ?Salafist win when the power vacuum occurs is high on their minds, and by facilitating things they see themselves helping the fight that will win the day for the global caliphate.

Backtrack 5 and Jihadi’s … Now There’s A Mix.

As an effort to get the global cyber jihad going, tutorials are popping up all over the net along with certain Islamic hacking sites offering not only how to’s but also software and targets. One of the more interesting developments is how the jihadi’s are now going mainstream hacking with the use of things like Maltego, and Backtrack 5 as well as using sandboxed USB drive operating systems. This is not your old jihobbyists online, its changing before your eyes. Now, this is not to say that all of these folks are becoming sophisticated hackers, but, one need not necessarily be one in order to sow chaos or hack a site nowadays right?

There have been tutorials on SQLi as well as how to use Metasploit online for a long time, but only recently have I seen them being translated into Arabi and placed on the technical forums. This means to me, that even the low end of the technically capable can now boot up their tools (courtesy of the security community) and viola, hack a site… Of course, what they plan on doing after that is not clear. So far these guys have not figured out the full Anonymous model’s relevance to the global jihad.. Yet… I think though, that as Anonymous/Antisec moves along further, and the words of OBL reach their cognitive centers, they will understand that even this realm of warfare can be used to hit the infidels in the pocketbook, sow fear, and serve as the digital side of the kinetic attacks that the core of AQ would love to perpetrate for large effects..

Short answer.. Digital Warfare in support of actual kinetic attacks on infrastructure.

 

Maltego and Jihad.. Hmmm..

TNT_ON and AQ Comm’s Support for Syria

SQLi, The Anon’s Love It, Why Not Jihadi’s!

The Take Away

I have been pointing this out for a while now and the jihadi’s have been evolving. While the Arab Spring goes on and the changes are sweeping those countries in the Middle East, the jihad has begun to take notice of this area and asked its acolytes to learn. The E-jihad is budding in tandem with their thirst for power vacuums in places like Syria and Yemmen where they hope to take over by winning the popular sentiment. What they fail to see though is that they are not as loved as they think they are.

Meanwhile, in looking at Islamic/Muslim/Jihadi hacker sites, I am seeing the rise of a new player in the Anonymous space… Perhaps even they have become a part of that space and are working within. After all, Sabu keeps playing the Palestine Liberation card in his imagery and speech…

How long til the zeitgeist catches on with the kiddies…. The defacements ongoing and the dumps of credit cards are only the beginning  I think…

Now we can add Jihadi’s to the list of players in the great game of “Cyberwar” *cough* hate that term still…

K.