Jihad packets

From Tammy Swofford at the Daily Times:

The intelligence sector remains hard at work. Jihadi sites are scrubbed, some sites monitored and others are acquired, and used as honey pots. But with the advent of Twitter, infection is spiking November of 2008: The Conficker worm emerged from the cocoon of her creator and infected her first computer. 

The dynamic of infiltration and subsequent growth of a massive botnet astounded those who followed Conficker’s movements and upgrades. Hassen Saidi (PhD in computer studies) was one of the many researchers involved in studying the worm. He dissected the various strains of the worm. His analysis provided insight into the progression of the Conficker infection. 

Within a month of the initial digital incursion, 1.5 million computers in 195 countries were compromised. In the world of computers, malware is compressed into small data packets for rapid dissemination across the internet. Malware is also shielded with self-protective measures to avoid detection. 

When the Conficker worm made an initial appearance it barely registered any activity. But for those tasked with monitoring the same, the stakes were high. The behaviour of the Conficker worm provides an uncanny parallel with the manner in which jihad recruitment moves forward with the delivery of tiny packets of information. 

The stakes are incredibly high in this line of work. Tracking is 24/7 by the alphabet security agencies. When a jihad malware infection occurs the recipient may register minimal online presence. An observable digital footprint can still obscure movement towards an operational attack. Semper Vigilans. 

Observing the object code and electrical charges (translate: emotional charges) associated with jihad recruitment, code never ceases to amaze me. The host for a malware infection is not only a programmable machine. Incursions with greater complexity are in flux. The 21st century host resides within a small space known as the human skull. 

The combination of a mind, free will and human emotion provide multiple avenues for agitation propaganda, exploitation and adaptation of the subject. During the early years after 9/11, the malware activity at work on human brains increased significantly via internet jihad forums. 

My daily leapfrog across jihad portals gave me the ability to monitor the emotional pulse generated from the sites. This activity within the sites was not yet infecting within the tens of millions. But, over a period of months, there was the steady appearance of a remote thread injection — a hidden code — that executed itself within a legitimate address. 

That remote thread was based on an understanding of hadith and the historical battles of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). My own intellectual ability to follow along required immersion studies into the tiny data packets of information known as hadith and their smaller packets known as isnd and matn (chain of transmitters and text, respectively).

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