Tech-savvy terrorists hijacked the Internet

Jeffrey Simon, a former terrorism analyst for the RAND Corp. and a consultant who has studied terrorism for 20 years, said that if the Internet wasn't already there, the terrorists would have loved to invent it. There's no doubt technology plays a key role for the jihadists. The Internet serves as a perfect tool, providing a very elusive base for training and operations.

Terrorists can communicate quickly and anonymously. They can train and instruct, providing manuals for the preparation of chemical weapons and bombs. They also use it to claim responsibility for terrorist acts, recruit and raise money.

Experts feel there appears to be nothing that civilized governments can do about it, short of censoring the entire Internet. Retired CIA Director George Tenet, while addressing a security conference for government agencies in Washington, called for tightening Internet security, which he called "a potential Achilles' heel."

A few years ago in Boston, Rezwan Ferdaus, a student at Northeast University, bought some small-scale robotic jets that are one-twentieth scale and can fly at nearly jet speeds. He planned to load them up with explosives and fly them as remotely controlled drones into the Pentagon, the Capitol building and other government buildings.

Along with the explosives, he purchased a bunch of AK-47s which proved he was ready for an Alamo-style defense or an all-out assault. Fortunately, the plot was uncovered through an FBI informant but it does show how instrumental the Internet can be in helping a lone wolf terrorist stage his one-man war.

Rita Katz is director of the Washington-based Search for International Terrorist EntitiesInstitute who has been tracking international terrorists since the 1990s. He said the Internet today is really "command central" for all terrorist organizations.

"You don't really need to be in Afghanistan anymore," Katz said. "It's all on the Internet."

Although the Internet was set up for our use to make our life better, she said the terrorists have literally hijacked it.

To avoid detection, terrorists frequently change Web addresses and often operate undetected on other websites or Internet servers. Katz believes that hard-core al-Qaida and jihadist websites are hosted in this country because of freedom of speech protections.

Driven by a basic mission to kill as many people as possible, tech-savvy terrorists have grown dramatically since the 9/11 attacks. In 2004, a polished 25-minute training video was first posted on a jihadist message board showing would-be terrorists how to make an explosive belt to blow yourself up and kill as many people as possible. It even showed the suicide bomber with his belt aboard a crowded bus and a simulated detonation.

Terrorists know the emotional impact of targeting civilians. ISIS realizes that it can't wage war on a battlefield but that nothing is more destructive to a nation's morale and unity than killing Westerners where they live.

Visuals play a big part in breeding terrorists. Earlier this year, Yuval Noah Harari, an Israeli historian, said people turn to terrorism because they know they cannot wage conventional war, so they opt instead to create a theatrical spectacle. He said today's terrorists don't think like army generals but like theater producers.

Last December, alleged members of the Islamic State even launched a new cyber war magazine for jihadists titled Kybernetiq. Along with providing updates on the latest technology, the goal is to instruct jihadists on how to participate in the cyber war against the Western infidels.

While U.S. leaders, such as Secretary of State John Kerry, constantly downplay or deflect the terrorism threat and instead choose to concentrate on climate change, some leaders in the world are more attuned to prioritizing today's threat.

If any nation has reason to be concerned about climate change, it's Bangladesh, one of the most densely populated nations in the world. Major rivers and streams dominate the Ganges Delta, where 160 million people live in a place one-fifth the size of France.

Because the rivers are so polluted, Bangladesh relies almost entirely on groundwater for drinking supplies, but all the pumping causes the land to settle. To compound the flood threat, the sea levels are rising. Many experts agree that in three decades, rising sea levels will inundate some 17 percent of the land and displace about 18 million people.

Despite this ominous news regarding climate change, including a major water crisis and potential human disaster looming in its future, the Bangladesh prime minister realizes that cyberterrorism is just as much an immediate threat.

Last week, Sheikh Hasina announced that in the wake of militancy and terrorism, all security forces would undergo expert training in the use of modern technology alongside receiving training to fight terrorism and militancy, which she called the "twin demons."

American leaders should be applying that same logic and common sense in dealing with the global war on terror that we've been experiencing in our homeland.

By Jim Zbick | tneditor@tnonline.com