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Track terrorists online
From his humble home in small-town Ontario, Brent Astley directs an international band of cybersleuths as they track terrorists online
Thursday, August 19, 2004
These seven terrorist-tracking cyberspies are from the U.S., Singapore, Australia and Canada. But are they boons to national security or wanna-be worldsavers with too much time on their hands? In one corner of the room, images from a CNN news broadcast flash from a television screen. At a round table within viewing distance, Brent Astley sits, his left hand curling around a big mug of fresh coffee, brewed strong, the way he likes it. He watches scenes from Wall Street in New York, following a warning earlier this month from U.S. federal officials that some of the country's most iconic financial buildings were the subject of a heightened terrorist alert. Astley has a special interest in what's happening in New York. He has been watching the terror alert developments closely for some time. For about 10 to 16 hours a day, Astley hones in on the virtual world of terrorism, from his living room in Norwood, Ont., a town of about 1,200, roughly 30 kilometres east of Peterborough. As the director of the 7-Seas Global Intelligence Security Team, an international septet of hardcore web surfers and researchers that attempts to monitor terrorism on the Internet, he considers himself a bonafide terrorist-tracking cyberspy. Some may consider Astley and his colleagues to be wanna-be worldsavers and national security dabblers with too much time on their hands. But in February this year, the organization was thrust into the spotlight after one of its members gave the U.S. Department of Homeland Security a tip about a U.S. National Guardsman who appeared willing to betray American forces. Later this month, Spc. Ryan Anderson, a specialist in the Washington state National Guard's 81st Tank Brigade, is to face a court martial and allegations that he planned to pass military secrets to the enemy once he was stationed in Iraq. Shannen Rossmiller, a municipal judge in Conrad, Mont. was the 7-Seas member who is now set to testify in the case against Anderson. Rossmiller routinely trawls through websites with names such as bravemuslim.com, and last fall she saw a posting by a man calling himself Amir Abdul Rashid. It was clear from the message that Rashid was edging toward the violent fringes of Islam. It also became clear that he was a U.S. soldier. Rossmiller used her cyberspy skills to pose as an Algerian with ties to that country's outlawed Armed Islamic Group. She sent Rashid an e-mail titled A Call to Jihad. They had a protracted exchange of e-mails, through which Rossmiller learned that Rashid was a national guardsman about to be sent to Iraq, and that he seemed willing to betray his fellow soldiers once he was there. Because of Rossmiller, Spc. Anderson, a recent convert to Islam, was arrested -- and the operations of 7-Seas and Rossmiller became a lot less covert. "I ended up having to go public. It was kind of surreal. It was hard," Rossmiller says. Although she had seen photos of Anderson before, she says: "I never expected that I would have to face one of these people. This is real now." Online Origins Although Rossmiller was not an original 7-Seas member, she met the other members early on, in an online chat room called itshappening.com, where people discuss terrorism, news and current events. After Sept. 11, Rossmiller felt helpless and decided she wanted to take action. Like her colleagues, she began exploring the Internet's nooks and crannies for signs and sites of terrorists and their organizations. Including Rossmiller, four of the seven members live in the U.S. Another member is in Singapore and one is in Australia. Astley rounds out the group, although they are working to bring a former member from Toronto back into the operation. "We're pretty thick," Rossmiller says. "We're small, but all over the world." Astley's motivation arose from the attacks, and from a sense of public duty. "My father's generation had World War II to do its thing," he says. His generation has the war on terrorism. Trained as a physicist, Astley is a self-taught and currently unemployed computer programmer. He studied particle physics at Carleton University and Trent University, but abandoned his Master's degree and moved back to Norwood five years ago. "I just decided it wasn't for me," the 44-year-old says. With his quiet, unassuming manner, gentle voice and casual dress that includes black running shoes on sockless feet, Astley doesn't appear to be cut from James Bond cloth. Nor does it matter that instead of being based in a major metropolis, he's tucked away on a half-acre plot with 13 acres of swamp to his name. His two-storey century-old house, he says, is in a constant state of renovation. Yet appearances don't stop him from getting a sense of satisfaction, knowing that he has contributed. "Personally, I like puzzles and enigmas. It certainly is that." Once the 7-Seas members discovered they shared common goals, they decided to move to a more private forum, where they felt they could be more effective. Since January 2003, 7-Seas has worked together. Before joining in April, Rossmiller worked on her own, fostering her modest computer skills and her interest in world affairs. "I'm way beyond," she now says. The members communicate by e-mail and instant messaging. Occasionally, they talk on the phone. Rossmiller is the only member Astley has met in person. The organization receives numerous offers of help, from five to 20 a day following a threat. "And they're not crackpots," Rossmiller says. They're emergency firemen, experts in weapons of mass destruction and retired U.S. Navy intelligence officers. Although the organization isn't taking any new members, it is trying to find a way to incorporate offers of assistance. Each month, Astley says, 7-Seas works on about 20 cases, some taking as long as 16 weeks. "Three-quarters turn out to be nothing," he adds. Every member has a different role and different skills. Rossmiller has legal knowledge, while Astley says his job is to decipher nuclear threats. They also have an economist and security experts, and eight languages between them. "We've pretty much got it covered," Astley says. "Over the course, I know we have saved lives." Although none of them reads or speaks Arabic, they use effective translation software. It's convincing enough that Rossmiller can exchange messages with suspected terrorists under the guise of different Muslim identities she has created. Credibility Problems Although the exposure following the Anderson case helped 7-Seas gain credibility, Astley says its members still struggle to do their work. "Part of the problem is, you start sending them (authorities) information and they start thinking you're crackpots." However, over time, 7-Seas has acquired an RCMP contact, FBI contacts and a NASA contact, Astley says. At this point, he passes the information on to them to distribute among the relevant authorities. In fact, the RCMP says it thrives on tips from the public. "It's just more eyes and ears for the police," says Mountie spokeswoman Corp. Monique Beauchamp. While she wouldn't speak specifically about 7-Seas, she did acknowledge the importance of an engaged public. "The more people we have helping out certainly assists our job in finding out anything that might be going on out there." The RCMP also established a national security tip line to support the fight against international terrorism, Corp. Beauchamp says. "There's a lot of people on the Internet," she adds. "There's so much information that we can only benefit from gaining those responses from them." Information from a group like 7-Seas would be treated like any information provided by the public, she says. Beauchamp would not say whether tips from 7-Seas members have been fruitful for the RCMP. "We would never confirm that we are or are not investigating something, but we will follow up on the leads." Nor would the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) comment directly on 7-Seas. In general, says spokeswoman Nicole Currier, the agency obtains information from a variety of sources. Since single-source information isn't necessarily credible, the agency independently verifies the information it has received. "We never rule out any information from a variety of open sources. "We're not in a position to complain or to comment or to congratulate people that are doing stuff outside." CSIS is aware that "terrorists use the Internet freely," Currier says, and online monitoring is a big part of how CSIS works, Currier says. Groups like 7-Seas aren't common because expertise is required, says Rachel Ehrenfeld, author of Funding Evil and director of the New York-based American Center for Democracy. "You really need the devotion and the time to dedicate to it," she adds. Despite the commitment of 7-Seas members, she doesn't think their efforts can make that much of a difference. "Terrorism online is adapting and changing," she says. More Terrorist Websites Since Sept. 11, the number of terrorist sites has multiplied into the hundreds and it's hard to separate the credible ones, Astley says. "Some of them come and go overnight." The majority of this group's leads turn out to be nothing. "Then there's that real kernel of two per cent that's real," he says. A good indication that a person might be a legitimate concern is the level of detail in thier communications -- whether there's a where, when, how or who in the online exchanges. If it's credible, 7-Seas will pass on the information. Often, they won't hear back from the intelligence agencies, Rossmiller says. Instead, they'll just receive confirmation when they see it in the news. "It's all migrated from actual training camps," she says, to virtual training grounds online. Astley's members do more than monitor sites with potential terrorist activity. Astley says they engage suspected terrorists and their supporters, just as police officers establish contact with pedophiles online by posing as children and young teenagers. Rossmiller usually works in the middle of the night -- afternoon in the Middle East. "I initially created my own identity just to see if I could get into these terrorist forums." She decided to communicate with others on these terrorist websites, and then just kept creating more identities. While still in its infancy, 7;Seas is looking into "actual real-world operation" -- meeting suspected terrorists or supporters face to face. This is a phase Astley is not ready to discuss. Anonymous No More While 7-Seas worked effectively in anonymity, its members have adapted to the increased visibility. "It's changed us in a lot of ways," Astley says. It has forced the organization to redeploy internally. As the director, he says he's an "electronic paper-pusher" who hands "whatever information to whatever authorities I can" and also communicates with people trying to help the organization. After Rossmiller was called on to testify, she had to go public. Her job as a judge gave her a fairly high profile in town. "I'm a public figure anyway, but I still had a private life," she says. The new exposure has presented new challenges, Astley says, but "it hasn't changed what we do." Astley says he's considered the increased personal risk quite a lot. With three children and a wife, he has more than his own security to think about. "It's a concern but it's not a panic," Astley says. "I think there's a lot more relevant targets out there than me." Rossmiller takes precautions, She hides her Internet protocol address when she is online, so that no one can trace her to the U.S., "or God forbid, Montana." In some ways, the publicity has helped advance the organization's work. Astley believes he and his colleagues are raising awareness of the terrorist threats that are part of today's reality. "Maybe other people will do similar things to help," Rossmiller says. But she adds, "Not everyone could pick up and do what we do. You do get burned out. It's stressful, but we're all dedicated." While Astley would never discourage anyone, he says it's not a job for everyone. "I would never encourage anyone to do it. It has to be something that comes from within you," he says. Looking slightly embarrassed at the cliche, he likens the work to a religious calling. Charles Fleming, executive director of the Cyber Incident Detection & Data Analysis Center in Colorado, says that "you can't say bad things about " citizens' groups such as 7-Seas because they track terrorists on personal time. 7-Seas, Fleming says, "looks like a neighbourhood watch situation except in cyberspace. It's the same philosophy. "I wouldn't discourage the interests of anyone," Fleming adds. But while 7-Seas' efforts are admirable, he says, it smacks of vigilantism. "They're opening themselves up for potential trouble," he says. RCMP spokeswoman Beauchamp agrees, warning that amateur terrorist-tracking can present personal risks. "The RCMP doesn't encourage it," she says. Everybody's traceable, she says, and the police aren't the only one with this capability. At the same time, the RCMP can't stop organized groups such ase 7-Seas, since they aren't doing anything illegal. "They're average citizens that are using open source information. Whether they're an organized group or not, whatever way by legal means they obtain this information, if they want to pass it on to police we will follow up on all those leads." Unpaid Work For now, 7-Seas reaps no the financial rewards. In fact, the organization operates at a loss. "We've done fairly well on a shoestring budget," Astley says. Or rather, members dip into their own pockets. "It's work we all love to do," he explains. Rossmiller agrees it's not about the money. "We're here after two and a half years and we haven't made a dime." Astley says a few months ago, he approached Human Resources Development Canada for a small business grant. "They laughed at me," he says with a shrug. Despite its commitment to fight terrorism, the organization makes a point of remaining apolitical. "We don't take any political stance," Astley declares, but adds, "We're supporting the coalition side insofar as the war against terrorism." In Canada, the risk of terrorism is as relevant as in the United States, Fleming says. "We all know it's happening." When it comes to the Internet, and the tightly connected infrastructures and common bords of Canada and U.S., he adds, "it's a shared threat," especially as potential terrorists continue to find ways of sharing ideas and information online. "It's never really gone down," he says. Canadians don't take terrorist threats seriously enough, Astley says. "I don't think we're mentally and emotionally prepared for it. "They're aware, but I think they feel it's somebody else's problem." jchen@thecitizen.canwest.com © The Ottawa Citizen 2004
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