The Role Of Technology In Modern Terrorism

Napoli (Italy)
January 28th, 2016
Pierluigi PAGANINI
The Role Of Technology In Modern Terrorism

AGENDA
Analisi Rischi
Scenario Corrente
Cyber spazio e
Terrorismo
Cyber Terrorismo

Current Scenario
Terrorismo, a global alert
3
• Terrorism, it is global alert in major capitals
worldwide
• Paris, Istanbul, Jakarta and Ouagadougou
(Burkina Faso), terrorism is a global threat.
• Analysts fear possible attacks even in places of
limited interest.
• Technology plays a crucial role for the modern
terrorist threat.
• Cyber space, a new territory of confrontation
for a threat that has no boundaries.
• Lone Wolves attacks in cyberspace

Current Scenario
Media and Terrorism
4
“Terrorist attacks are often carefully choreographed to attract the attention
of the electronic media and the international press. Terrorism is aimed at
the people watching, not at the actual victims. Terrorism is a theater”.
(Brian Jenkins, International Terrorism – A new kind of Warfare 1974)

Who are the terrorists in the Internet?
5Scenario Corrente
Hamas (the Islamic Resistance Movement), the Lebanese Hizbollah (Party of
God), the Egyptian Al-Gama'a al Islamiyya (Islamic Group, IG), the Popular
Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PLFP), the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the
Peruvian Tupak-Amaru (MRTA) and ‘The Shining Path’ (Sendero Luminoso),
the Kahane Lives movement, the Basque ETA movement, the Real IRA
(RIRA), Supreme Truth (Aum Shinrikyo), the Colombian National Liberation
Army (ELN-Colombia), the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), the Armed
Revolutionary Forces of Colombia (FARC), the Popular Democratic
Liberation Front Party in Turkey (DHKP/C), the Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK),
the Zapatista National Liberation Army (ELNZ), the Japanese Red Army
(JRA), the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU), the Mujahedin, the
Chechens, Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba and Al-Qaeda.

Terrorism in the cyberspace
6
Presence of Terrorists in the Internet
• In 1998: 12 websites containing
terrorist material
• In 2003: 2,650 websites
containing terrorist material
• In September 2015: 9,800
websites containing terrorist
material
Prof. Gabriel Weimann - 06 Nov 15
Current Scenario
Significant increase of the number of website in the Deep Web

What are the advantages?
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Cyberspace and
Terrorism
7
Simple access Poor control
Interactive
Anonymity
Cheap

What are the possible uses?
Cyberspace and
Terrorism
8
• Propaganda
• Psychological warfare
• Recruitment and mobilization
• Fundraising
• Data Mining, information gathering
• Secure communications
• Cyber attacks
• Software distribution (e.g., mobile app)
• Buying false documents
• Training

Social media & propaganda
Internet
Propaganda
9
• Using images with high emotional impact.
• It reaches not Arab people, and it is easily accessible
to young people.
• Easy dissemination of content (easy sharing through
email, messaging and mobile apps)
YouTube, Twitter and Facebook, crucial option for propaganda activities.

Social media and propaganda
Internet
Propaganda
10
http://gawker.com/how-isis-makes-its-blood-sausage-1683769387

Training Material
Narrowcasting 11
• Narrowcasting is the transmission of content restricted to specific
categories of users.
• Intelligence experts are worrying about distribution of content to
teenagers
 Websites using a ‘comic-
style’, lauding the Jihad
 Videos and Animations
 Computer "games"
 Online Quiz
 Infographics

Training material
Narrowcasting 12
ISIS - propaganda Infographic

Social media
Social media 13
Tweets related to the IS - (Feb.2015)
• Saudi Arabia and Egypt
recorded highest increase, a
clear sign of interest in the IS
• Importance Social media
analysis for business
intelligence
• PSYOPS
Source Recorderd Future - https://www.recordedfuture.com/isis-twitter-growth/

Training Material
Training 14
• Manuals for a safe use of social media
and communication systems
• Propaganda material (e.g.
Encyclopedia of Jihad)
• Manuals for preparations Weapons
(i.e. chemical weapons, bombs)
• Instructions for kidnappings and
techniques of torture.
• Training Techniques

Information about targets.
Information
Gathering 15
• Collecting information on
targets
• Analysis of open sources
• Passive Reconnaissance
• Availability of maps, images
and much more (e.g.,
Google Maps, Images from
worldc.am, etc.)

Information about targets
Information
Gathering 16

Encrypt communications
Encrypted
communications
17
• Tashfeen al-Jawwal, mobile application developed by the group Global
Islamic Media Front (GIMF) and released in September 2013.
• Asrar al-Ghurabaa, program for encryption of the information developed by
the group Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham and released in Nov. 2013.
• Amn al-Mujahid, software developed by the group Al-Fajr
TechnicalCommittee in December 2013.
Mujahideen Secrets - Al-Qaeda (2007)

Mobile Applications(2015)
Encrypted
communications
18
Nasher App August (2015)
Amaq Agency Android app 2016
Gruppi su Telegram

Counterfeit documents
Acquisto
Documenti Falsi
19

In the abyss of the Internet
Deep Web & Dark
Web
20
Pseudo anonymity offered by darknet makes the dark web an ideal
environment for various activities such as:
• Propaganda
• Purchasing wepons
• Purchasing stolen card data
• Counterfeit documents
• Recruiting
• Download Mobile Apps used
for secure communications
• Purchase of malicious code
• Fund-raising (??)
• Doxing

Predominant technological component
Over the network 21
The Islamic State has an R & D team which prepares missiles and
hi-tech bombs

“The Islamic State is the first extremist group that has a credible
offensive cyber capability,” said F-Secure Chief Research
Officer Hyppönen, speaking last week at the Wall Street Journal’s
WSJDLive conference in Laguna Beach, Calif. “Clearly, this situation
isn’t getting better. It’s getting worse.”
• The use of hacking technique to sabotage critical infrastructure.
• Hacking of systems containing sensitive information.
• Possibility of destabilizing political context through cyber attacks
Cyber Terrorism
Cyber terrorism
22

• Low investment
• Organizational phase simpler and difficult to
detect
• Ability to create extensive damage like
traditional terrorist attack
• Different repercussions cyber attack (e.g.,
political, economic, social, technological).
• Risks associated with militarization of
cyberspace and reverse engineering of
cyber weapons
Cyber Terrorism
What benefits?
23

Cyber Terrorism
Hacking and Intelligence
24
• The ISIS is trying to infiltrate the
Indian hacking community.
• The terror organization offered
up to $ 10,000 to hack
government websites.
• Intense propaganda activities in
the area.
• Over 30,000 individuals in
contact with members of the
organization in Syria and Iraq.
• 12 arrests and 94 websites
blocked local intelligence.

All against all
Risk Analysis 25
The Global Risks Report 2016 11th
Edition – World Economic Forum
Cyber attacks - high impact
events with high probability
Terrorist attacks- high
impact events with high
probability of occurrence

Risk Analysis 26
The Global Risks Report 2016 11th
Edition – World Economic Forum
Risks Strongly correlated
A cyber terrorist attack could
have the following repercussions:
Cyber attacks
Terrorist attacks
• Geopolitics
• Economic
• Technological
• Social
• Environmental

A look to the future
New Trends 27
• Possible cyber attacks launched
by isolated cells
• Disclosure of sensitive data
• Cyber-terrorism on a large scale
• Cyber attacks against critical
infrastructure
• "Narrowcasting" (restricted
transmission of information)

About me 28
About Pierluigi Paganini:
Pierluigi Paganini is Chief Information Security Officer at Bit4Id, firm leader in
identity management, member of the ENISA (European Union Agency for
Network and Information Security) Threat Landscape Stakeholder Group, he
is also a collaborator at the GIPAF group, Italian Ministry of Economy and
Finance - Administrative Prevention of Payment Card Fraud (GIPAF). Security
Evangelist, Security Analyst and Freelance Writer.
Editorial manager at Tech Economy for the Security Notes Channel and
Editor-in-Chief at "Cyber Defense Magazine", Pierluigi is a cyber security
expert with over 20 years experience in the field, he is Certified Ethical Hacker
at EC Council in London. The passion for writing and a strong belief that
security is founded on sharing and awareness lead Pierluigi to find the security
blog "Security Affairs" named a Top National Security Resource for US.
Pierluigi is a member of the Dark Reading Editorial team and he is regular
contributor for some major publications in the cyber security field such as
Cyber War Zone, ICTTF, Infosec Island, Infosec Institute, The Hacker News
Magazine and for many other Security magazines.
Author of the Books "The Deep Dark Web" and “Digital Virtual Currency
and Bitcoin”, coming soon the new book "Spy attack”
Ing. Pierluigi Paganini
Chief Information Security Officer Bit4id
ppa@bit4id.com
www.bit4id.com
Founder Security Affairs
http://securityaffairs.co/wordpress
pierluigi.paganini@securityaffairs.co

The Role Of Technology In Modern Terrorism

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