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SNIPPET: "WASHINGTON, April 2 (UPI) -- A blackout of al-Qaida's main Web sites is in its 11th day, and officials think the forums may have been brought down in a cyberattack. While no one has claimed credit for disabling the sites..." SNIPPET: "The loss of information typically confuses and frustrates the readers of the Web sites. "It leaves the rank-and-file to guess which messages and which messengers are genuine al-Qaida, and provides undercover operators with new opportunities to disrupt the movement," said A. Aaron Weisburd, senior fellow at the Homeland Security Policy Institute."

COME this year's Ramadan month in July, a "halal" social networking site called "Salamworld" will open its doors to netizens. At the very basic, it aims to become an Islamic alternative to the hugely popular Facebook site. The key to this is to make it a safe site that is free of everything that is haram or forbidden -- pornography, criminal activities, fraud, paedophilia and advertisements on gambling and alcohol. It was launched in Istanbul, Turkey amid a gathering of Islamic leaders and intellectuals recently. A promo video that outlined the idea behind Salamworld said: "By filtering out harmful content,...

While the U.S. Army knows its soldiers live in the modern world and carry location-aware, socially networked smartphones, it is reiterating the dangers of broadcasting too much information, because oversharing could cost lives. "Someone with the right software and the wrong motivation could download the photo and extract the coordinates from the metadata." As civilians, we're constantly giving out warnings about the dangers of revealing real-time locations via Facebook and Foursquare check-ins, or via tweets. We also tell you how to disable location tracking in your smartphones. Not only does it make individuals vulnerable to stalking, but also to robbery...

Israel to sell $1.6 billion in arms to Iran's neighbor Azerbaijan The sales come at a delicate time. Israel has been laboring hard to form diplomatic alliances in a region that seems to be growing increasingly hostile to the Jewish state. JERUSALEM — Israeli defense officials Sunday confirmed $1.6 billion in deals to sell drones as well as anti-aircraft and missile-defense systems to Azerbaijan, bringing sophisticated Israeli technology to the doorstep of archenemy Iran. The sales by state-run Israel Aerospace Industries come at a delicate time. Israel has been laboring hard to form diplomatic alliances in a region that seems...

SNIPPET: "Meanwhile, if anyone has any sites to add to this list, or any other insights regarding HuT online, I'm right here."

SNIPPET: "Reckless doesn't mean not dangerous. Quite the opposite. They may fail spectacularly, or be wildly successful. One thing I believe we can count on is that they will take risks, act swiftly, and burn as many assets as they have to along the way in order to do what Khamenei wants."

Social networking has its advantages and disadvantages. Among the latter are the occasional dispute one gets dragged into with someone you think is an imbecile; perhaps an intelligent imbecile, but an imbecile nonetheless. That's a harsh judgment, and I'm sure I'm wrong about the person I disputed with, who I don't even know. But, uses of government power inspire passions for and against, and those who meet the outrage of those imposed upon with "tut-tut-you've-got-it-all-wrong" protestations are apt to provoke a reaction. I fell into the trap the other night on a facebook friend's post--another person I don't know--and want...

SNIPPET: "Moeed Abdul Salam didn't descend into radical Islam for lack of other options. He grew up in a well-off Texas household, attended a pricey boarding school and graduated from one of the state's most respected universities." SNIPPET: "It is not clear to what extent Salam's family knew of his radicalism, but on his Facebook page the month before he died, he posted an image of Anwar al-Awalki, the American al-Qaida leader who was killed in a U.S. drone strike in Yemen, beside a burning American flag." SNIPPET: "The family, originally from Pakistan, immigrated to the U.S. decades ago."

SNIPPET: "While these various elements of the jihadist network are distinct, the Internet brings them together, especially at the grassroots level. Videos, websites and online magazines indoctrinate aspiring militants in the jihadist ideology and provide a forum for like-minded individuals and groups."

The Jihad Will Be YouTubed by Raffaello Pantucci December 15, 2011 FOREIGN POLICY - The AFPAK Channel SNIPPET: "While clearly the technology to make such videos is something that is universal, it does seem as though it is aspirant jihadists in the West who find it easiest to use. There was no evidence that Gul was being directed by foreign terrorist organizations to produce his material, and his case shows the continued existence of young Westerners producing radical material on their own. It may indeed be the case that the virtual armies have yet to fully emerge as active warriors...

As'ad AbuKahlil—a political science professor at California State University, Stanislaus—spoke last month at a day-long "teach-in" at the University of California, Berkeley titled, "Building Solidarity with the Arab Spring." It consisted of a number of "workshop sessions" at the Valley Life Sciences Building, followed by a "plenary session" at the Multicultural Center, and was co-sponsored by the Arab Resource Organizing Committee, the Berkeley Muslim Students Association PAC, the International Socialist Organization, and the Syrian American Council. AbuKhalil's workshop on "The U.S. and the Arab Uprising" was held in a tiny, hot, windowless room filled with students wearing hijabs and keffiyehs....

Quote: homeland.house.gov/hearing/subcommittee-hearing-jihadist-use-social-media-how-prevent-terrorism-and-preserve-innovation Subcommittee Hearing: Jihadist Use of Social Media - How to Prevent Terrorism and Preserve Innovation Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence | 311 Cannon House Office Building Washington, DC 20515 | Dec 6, 2011 2:00pm On Tuesday, December 6, 2011 the Committee on Homeland Security’s Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence will hold a hearing entitled "Jihadist Use of Social Media - How to Prevent Terrorism and Preserve Innovation." The Committee will meet at 2:00 p.m. in 311 Cannon House Office Building. Witnesses Mr. Evan F. Kohlmann Flashpoint Global Partners Mr. William McCants Analyst Analyst for the Center for Naval...

COLUMBIA, SC (WIS) - A South Carolina man is accused of threatening the life of Gov. Nikki Haley on Facebook, but he claims he was only making a point about free speech. When 26-year-old Nathan Shafer heard about the arrests of 19 Occupy Columbia members outside the State House last Wednesday, he did what lots of people do when they get angry -- he vented about it on the Internet. He saw Gov. Haley's Facebook post about the arrests and Haley's comment that she "appreciate[s] freedom of speech," and that's when authorities say Shafer crossed the line. "I hope someone...

SNIPPET: "In July, the British government warned that Al Qaeda’s exploitation of social networking websites is on the rise." SNIPPET: "The massive and multifarious network of websites and social media has presented a challenge to authorities in trying to combat it. Additionally, civil liberty concerns have conflicted with government efforts to spy on communications. Reducing terrorist activity on social media sites has been particularly difficult because users have adopted new forms of communication to conform with the new formats. Many Arabic speakers on Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and other sites use Arabizi, a form of colloquial Arabic written in the Latin...

Five foreign men were arrested during a courthouse break-in early on Wednesday and police said they found photographs of public buildings, water systems and malls from various U.S. cities in their van. The men, at least three of whom were in their 20s, will be questioned by a joint terrorism task force including the FBI and immigration authorities, officials said. Bexar County spokeswoman Laura Jesse said three men were found inside the 120-year-old Bexar County Courthouse, a landmark in downtown San Antonio and two in a large recreational vehicle parked in front of the building. She said all five were...

SNIPPET: "A day after a suicide bomb attack wounded 28 at a church in Indonesia..." SNIPPET: "While a suicide bomber struck Sepenuh Injil Bethel Church (translated as "Bethel Full Gospel Church") in Solo City in Central Java province Sunday morning, police found another bomb in front of Maranatha church in Ambon Island, the capital of Maluku province, Monday. "This is in a series of bombs that we found there [in Ambon]," the Jakarta Globe newspaper quoted National Police spokesman Anton Bachrul Alam as saying. "All are homemade bombs, they are all similar. So the maker is the same.""

A 21-year-old Baltimore man has been arrested for attempting to blow up a military recruitment center in Catonsville with a fake bomb supplied by federal agents. Federal authorities say Antonio Martinez, also known as Muhammad Hussain, attempted to detonate what he believed to be a vehicle bomb this morning at the Armed Forces Career Center in the 5400 block of Baltimore National Pike. Court records paint Martinez as obsessed with Jihad and intent on punishing the military. He praised Nidal Hassan, the U.S. Army major who killed 13 people at Fort Hood, and discussed obtaining weapons and shooting up military...

SNIPPET: "The Interior Ministry says Spanish police have arrested a Cuban man suspected of belonging to al-Qaida. A ministry statement says the man was detained Monday on the Mediterranean Island of Mallorca."

Another day, another Facebook home page redesign. According to a blog post by Facebook engineering manager Mark Tonkelowitz, users this week were treated to a revamped news feed designed to make the user experience more like a newspaper — that is, Facebook will tell you which of your friends’ updates are worth reading. “When you pick up a newspaper after not reading it for a week, the front page quickly clues you into the most interesting stories. In the past, News Feed hasn’t worked like that,” Tonkelowitz writes. But now, “all your news will be in a single stream with...

"Salafist preacher and Internet activist indicted in Germany" September 13, 2011 SNIPPET: "Ibrahim Abou-Nagie, a salafi/jihadi preacher very active online, has been indicted in Cologne, Germany. Abou-Nagie, together with Abu Dujana of Bonn, operate as Die Wahre Religion (The True Religion). They are cited in multiple cases including those of the now-deceased Bekkay Harrach, and more recently Robert M. (arrested with an associate attempting to enter Britain whilst in possession of jihadist materials including Inspire magazine), not to mention Arid Uka, the Frankfurt shooter:"