http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1859319/posts?page=1523#1523
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http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/ew/2007/07/16/stories/2007071650080300.htm
“Casting a shadow of crime”
“Recent events draw attention to the misuse of the Internet to unleash terror.”
(July 16, 2007)
R.K.Raghavan
ARTICLE SNIPPET: “UK conviction
That the fears expressed over misuse of the Internet are not imaginary would be best illustrated by a criminal case that recently ended in the conviction of three persons in the UK. The trio (Waseem Mughal, Younus Tsouli and Tariq Dour) were experts at stealing credit card information online (mainly from gambling Web sites), using which they made huge purchases from online stores. The goods they so bought were mainly that required by Jihadists.
According to a Washington Post report, the three established a network of communication forums and Web sites for the benefit of such Jihadists. Incidentally, the sites carried tutorials on hacking and how to prepare explosives. Vol uminous material on the happenings in Iraq, especially on suicide bombing, was also made available. A posting on one of the sites carried a discussion following which was a message: “We are 45 doctors and we are determined to undertake jihad and take the battle inside America.” The involvement of doctors in the recent London and Glasgow terrorist attempts should not, therefore, come as a surprise to those who had knowledge of the activities of Mughal and company. It is certain these three will also be under scrutiny during the current investigations by the UK Police.
Interestingly, one of the conspirators, Tsouli, was arrested from his West London apartment while he was logged on to a Web site titled ‘youbombit.r8.org’. In his laptop, the investigators located a folder entitled ‘Washington’ that carried short video clips of the city’s important landmarks, and a hazardous chemical response vehicle.
Investigation against the three youths began in late 2005 after a tip-off from the Bosnian Police. The latter were examining the involvement of a Swedish and a Danish national in a plot to cause explosions in Europe, after they were found in possession of substantial amount of plastic explosives. Also seized from the two was a video carrying a message from them supposedly after causing the explosion they were planning. Obviously this was meant to be posted on the Internet for propaganda purposes!”
ARTICLE SNIPPET: “The spate of instances of Internet misuse for disseminating propaganda that glorifies violence has spawned a new class of experts who are constantly hunting for terror-based Web sites so as to bring them to the notice of law enforcement.
One of them is Aaron Weisburd who runs a Web forum, Internet Haganah, which is solely on this laudable mission. He recently undertook an intensive study of the sites in vogue and established that there was a nexus between those engaged in setting up terrorist sites and counterfeit online banking Web sites.
In his view, credit card frauds are also linked to such individuals. Terrorist organisations badly need resources, and it looks as if the one main source of funding is stolen financial information that facilitates online thefts from banks. This means, there is only a thin line of distinction between some of those who preach terror in cyber space and those who can rightly be labelled classic cyber criminals always on the prowl for victims.”