Jihad Watch Hacked Again?

My online time has been limited the past few days.

Almost every time I tried to access Jihad Watch over the past day or so, I couldn't find the site.

Clue me in?

Facebook fright

I thought the story of a user who's Facebook group was hacked and hijacked by terrorists and the company did nothing about it was bad enough. But now, it looks like Islamofascists may have more ideas in store for how to terrorize Israelis:

Jerusalem — Israeli intelligence has issued an unprecedented warning: Terrorists may use Facebook as a weapon in their war of terror.

A senior Israeli officer identifies recently fired high-tech workers or young career women seeking work abroad as potential terrorist targets for Facebook infiltration.

Their method is simple: monitor personal details on social networks and send their targets a tempting offer — for example, a dream job in Europe — with the hope they will also be able to obtain information, recruit spies and maybe even a kidnap an Israeli.

That is the Israel security establishment’s nightmare, and it believes Hezbollah already uses this technique.

An Israeli citizen recently told law enforcement authorities he had been solicited on Facebook by someone who introduced himself as a businessman from Lebanon. The businessman asked him to relay intelligence information in return for a fee.

Israel security sources say this instance was not the only case, and they believe Hezbollah has engaged in some of these activities.

I'm starting to wonder if Facebook is even worth any sensible person's time? Maybe not, and if Facebook's management won't do anything to stop this either, or cooperate with authorities trying to prevent these potential crimes, then they do not deserve having you as a customer.

Conficker Worm Linked to Anti-Americans in Russia

This may have no direct connection to Jihad, but it apparently does have connections to pro-fascist, anti-American young Russian hackers.

Giant Internet worm set to change tactics April 1
03/30/2009 4:12:49 AM
By JORDAN ROBERTSON AP Technology Writer

The fast-moving Conficker computer worm, a scourge of the Internet that has infected at least 3 million PCs, is set to spring to life in a new way on Wednesday - April Fools' Day.

That's when many of the poisoned machines will get more aggressive about "phoning home" to the worm's creators over the Internet. When that happens, the bad guys behind the worm will be able to trigger the program to send spam, spread more infections, clog networks with traffic, or try and bring down Web sites.

Technically, this could cause havoc, from massive network outages to the creation of a cyberweapon of mass destruction that attacks government computers. But researchers who have been tracking Conficker say the date will probably come and go quietly.

More likely, these researchers say, the programming change that goes into effect April 1 is partly symbolic _ an April Fools' Day tweaking of Conficker's pursuers, who for now have been able to prevent the worm from doing significant damage. "I don't think there will be a cataclysmic network event," said Richard Wang, manager of the U.S. research division of security firm Sophos PLC. "It doesn't make sense for the guys behind Conficker to cause a major network problem, because if they're breaking parts of the Internet they can't make any money."

The AP story doesn't identify the hackers, but CBS News Interactive, covering the same story, quotes an expert who says that most of them are young, anti-US Russian men.

Don Jackson is a hacker hunter. He is director of threat intelligence at SecureWorks in Atlanta, which protects corporations against cyber-attacks and tracks the hackers who launch them.

"Part of my job is to know the enemy, to know our adversaries," he explained.

To Jackson, the enemy is a hacker. "An enemy is somebody who wants to use computers to hurt somebody else or to make money for themselves.

"Using an assumed name, "Gozi," Jackson infiltrates chat rooms where hackers sell their worms and viruses to their clients: other hackers. He asks for a demo so his company can create software to disable the malware. The hackers, he says, are typically young, male and often from Russia.

Asked how he tracks them down, Jackson said, "Well, they're like any other business. They have to advertise to get clients."As Jackson explains, these brazen hackers do this openly on the Internet. "Unfortunately they're all too easy to find," he said. He says many Russian hackers are in cyber-gangs that display fascist symbols, like a Swastika and anti-American artwork. They boast about all the dollars they've stolen from the rich Americans. A single hacker can make $30,000 a month and be championed in local newspapers.

"There's an example recently where two boys were arrested actually and then let go the next day, but the article in the newspaper wasn't that they were arrested and that they committed a crime, but saying: 'Look at our two local boys made good. They've cheated some greedy Westerners out of so much money,'" Jackson explained.

"They're heroes," Stahl remarked.

"They are," he agreed. "And it's bringing money into the local economy.

"Russian authorities tend to look the other way, which explains why members of the cyber gangs have no fear. They even show their faces on the Internet.

One of the hackers, who calls himself "Tempest," is just 14 years old and working fulltime. "So he can't legally drive a car and he can't join the army, but he can hack into banks and siphon money out," Jackson remarked.

It's not known who's behind the computer worm Conficker, whether it's a gang of Russian hackers or some solitary evil genius. This worm is wily - it keeps mutating. Security software companies have been kept very busy.

Anybody know more about what we should expect on Wednesday, if anything?

Aussie Fire Suspect "Cannot Be Named", Also Charged With Child Porn

The Australians appear to have a very hot potato in custody and charged with setting the Churchill fire in Gippsland, one of several massive brushfires that have devastated parts of the country over the past weeks. The suspect has not been named and is being kept isolated under extreme police security. Police have called for restraint "amid fears of a violent backlash against suspected arsonists" and have called upon surivors of the estimated 181 fire victims to resist the temptation to take "vigilante action". The suspect is also charged with possession of child pornography. As has been noted, al qaeda jihadists have been using password-protected and heavily encrypted child porn sites to communitate and plan attacks.

The Cheerleaders

I ran the following story here on the IBA some time back, and we have an update. The Cheerleaders (also known as the Fighting Cocks) have a MySpace page:

The Fighting Cocks

And they have a fan group on FaceBook:

Cheerleadered!

Here's what they did that brought them to our attention in the first place:

A few months ago, I got an email from a person named Charlie who said, "Last night, my group took out IslamBase, the main UK jihadist website. So rah for us!"

I looked up IslamBase, and there were lots of results for the search on Google, and the two main ones were out.

I just checked again, and they're still off line:

http://islambase.co.uk is not even there.

http://www.muslimtents.com/islambase says their site is "under construction."

I asked Charlie how they did it. He said,

It's a group of us — we're called P2OG, or by the nickname The Cheerleaders. Basically we track and disrupt violent extremists, mostly Islamic extremists, based in the UK.

Islambase is the main website and forum for UK jihadis.

Using various methods we've identified who the top people are on Islambase and by warning them that we're going to put their names on posters all over London, we got the site disrupted. If it goes up again, we'll post their names on the site itself. And so it goes on!

Any info worth sending on, we send on to relevant agencies, i.e. SO15 (the Counter-Terrorist Command in London) or the Home Office.

I looked up P2OG and found out it stood for "Proactive Preemptive Operations Group." The Defense Science Board (DSB) conducted a 2002 "DSB Summer Study on Special Operations and Joint Forces in Support of Countering Terrorism." They DSB recommend the creation of a super-Intelligence Support Activity, an organization it dubbed the Proactive, Preemptive Operations Group (P2OG), to bring together CIA and military covert action, information warfare, intelligence and cover and deception. For example, the Pentagon and CIA would work together to increase human intelligence, forward/operational presence and to deploy new clandestine technical capabilities.

I asked Charlie if that's what P2OG stands for, and if so, is that who The Cheerleaders are. He said:

It does indeed stand for that. When we realized that the DSB study wouldn't lead to the Pentagon setting up the original unit, we took the name. That way, if any jihadis search for us, they just get a load of conspiracy theories!

In real life, we're me, some ex-army intel people, some hackers, and a bunch of girls with funny-colored hair!

However, the theory behind the original plan still stands — we get in there and proactively stir things up.

Violent jihad is spreading around the world because Jihadis are effectively using the internet. The Cheerleaders are making their task much more difficult, and doubtless saving the lives of innumerable non-Muslims. They are heroes.

Winds of Jihad Site Down

Check it out to see if you get the same message I did when I tried to access sheikyermami.com

This Domain (sheikyermami.com) Has Been Disabled

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
For information on restoring your account please call customer service as soon as possible

When/If you call our support help line, please have your site name ready.

Just a glitch, right?

To Feel the Fear is to Understand the Nature of the Beast

I have some very serious "domestic policy" differences with Newt Gingrich. I never thought I would find myself watching him speak and wishing he were our front runner candidate for president, but viewing these two superb short statements by him did just that.






Gringrich understands the danger from fundamentalist Islam thoroughly and viscerally. When he speaks of the fear he feels for the future of his grandchildren it resonates with the fear I feel every day. Not "concern". Fear. The sort of heart-pounding, pulse-racing, cold-sweat fear you feel when confronted by a large carnivorous animal that sees you as its next meal. Gingrich understands the nature of radical fundamentalist Islam and he understands, as the vast majority of his colleagues do not, that the nature of a thing determines its actions. The nature of radical fundatmentalist Islam is murder, destruction and enslavement, and at this time there is no effective force standing in its way.

At this point, I do not trust those who claim they "understand the situation". I trust only those who prove to me that they understand it and further, that they feel the same cold hand of fear that I do.

Blogger Silenced

Right here in America, blogger Foehammer of Foehammer's Anvil, one of the most outspoken critics of Islam is having more problems keeping his site on the web. From this cached copy of the last post he made. The title is "Experiencing Difficulties Beyond My Control" (emphases mine):

As many of you are aware of by now, I am experiencing problems with the hosting at the Anvil. This has been continuing off and on for months and in recent weeks it has built up a full head of steam.

This may be the last blog entry I make here at the Anvil for many days, so just be prepared. I am being badgered by my hosts with nebulous emails, unexpected service denials, etc., all during a time in my life when I need them the least and am not able to make much sense of what they claim to be the “problem” with the Anvil. In other words, I’m out of patience and short on solutions.

All this being said, I am now convinced that my next logical step will be to find a new host for the Anvil. I do not know when I will make this move, but I will make it in order to keep the Anvil online. I will not give in to extortionists, terrorists, Islamists or even poorly managed Internet hosting companies.

What I really will need to find is a hosting company that has a staff that can take the hat of tech support away from me. I must be getting old, because I no longer have the time, energy or will to be not only a writer but also a web designer, graphic artist, editor, marketer AND technical guru. I’ve lost my way in the wilds of the blogosphere and I need to simplify things for myself if I’m ever going to find the fire to start typing op-ed pieces again.

It’s a shame that it has come to this, but I certainly can’t say that I am surprised. The cause of my “problems” could range from an inside mole to an outside hacker to a simply well-hidden script that is misbehaving. I simply do not know and that is a rare thing for me to admit.

Wish me luck. I already know I have your support and for that I am sincerely grateful.

It has been my privilege to share my views with so many of you for this long and to be received so kindly by the majority. I will do my best to keep keeping on but there may very well be a big bump in the road ahead. Hold on tight.

Foehammer, out.

One of the sites which I "secretly" have was hacked last year. I never could get back in to post, and neither could my partner. That particular site was particularly critical of Islam, much more critical than my primary site. And the problems I had with that site occurred almost a year after Blogger made its conversion, so that conversion was not the problem.

I see 2008, less than three weeks old, as The Year of Silencing Voices. Via litigation jihad, we have already seen that push in the direction of Mark Steyn, Michael Savage, and Joe Kaufman. Blogger Lionheart in the UK is also under a cloud of suspicion, having been served in absentia with a notice of pending arrest. I'm sure that readers here know of other similar cases, the details of which escape me at the moment, at this early hour of the day.

This is cyber war, fellow infidels! Gird your loins. We're in for a bumpy ride.