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[infowar.de] AT 05.04.07: Not for your average jihadi
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/ID05Ak01.html
Middle East
Apr 5, 2007
Not for your average jihadi
By Abdul Hameed Bakier
Al-Fajr Information Center, a jihadist organization, recently published the
February issue of Technical Mujahid, a magazine released once every two
months that is available online. The release marks the second issue of the
publication. Various jihadist websites have posted links to different
locations to download the publication, that way stifling any attempts by
outside forces to remove the document from the Web.
According to the editor-in-chief of Technical Mujahid, Abu al-Mothanna
al-Najdi, the objectives of the magazine are to eradicate the phobia and
anxiety suffered by those who refrain from participating in jihad because
they erroneously believe that intelligence services are monitoring their
every move.
Additionally, the publication aims to spread a sense of security, vigilance
and self-confidence, in a scientific way, among members of jihadist forums
by educating them in jihadist propaganda and enhancing their knowledge of
field operations. To achieve these objectives, the magazine is organized
into six sections of technical training that are aimed at helping the
mujahideen carry out certain tasks.
Section 1: Covert communications
Secure communications, a significant and important tool for any underground
group, is the first training subject in the magazine, authored by Abi Musab
al-Jazayri "the Algerian". It starts with a brief historical account of the
evolution of secret communications from the use of secret ink to Morse code
to binary 256-bit and 2,048-bit encoding.
Then Jazayri launches into the body of his training article with "the thing
that scares the FBI [US Federal Bureau of Investigation] the most is the
use of secret communication techniques, by jihadis, known as the
concealment science". The training article outlines steganography, which is
the art of hidden messages; steganalysis, the art of detecting hidden
messages; and the merits of hiding data in innocuous-looking images.
Jazayri appears to be an expert on the subject judging from the details he
includes, such as image pixels, mathematical equations to prevent
distortions in pictures used to hide data, and the disadvantages of
encryption software available on the market, such as Ezstego, S-Tools and
Hide and Seek, which can all be easily deciphered using hexadecimal editors.
He explains that a good program to use is the "Secrets of the Mujahideen"
software application because it is a dual system that hides encrypted data
in a picture and compresses the files to nullify steganalysis methods. He
then provides an example of hiding 20 communiques of the Islamic Army in
Iraq in a 100-by-50-pixel picture.
His example highlights the necessity of applying steganalysis before
choosing a picture to hide data. Jazayri concludes the training by warning
jihadis not to use ineffective encryption programs in their secret
communications, reiterating that the best encryption uses multiple
concealment techniques such as compression, encoding and concealment or
uses communication-engineering techniques such as Spread Spectrum.
Section 2: Designing jihadi websites from A-Z
The second section, prepared by Abu Dojaina al-Makki, simply explains the
steps of designing websites and uploading them to the Internet via a host
company.
There is nothing unusual about this training except that the writer
recommends hiring foreign website host companies because Arabic companies
are incompetent, have "attitude" problems, and break down frequently. To
jihadis, experience in website development is important since the Web is
one of their key communication venues across various theaters of conflict.
It also provides a recruitment opportunity for jihadist operations.
Section 3: Smart weapons, short-range missiles
The training magazine recommends two types of short-range shoulder-fired
missiles for the jihadis as the most appropriate anti-aircraft weapons: the
US-made Stinger and the Russian-made Igla missiles.
Abi al-Harith al-Dilaimi, the writer of the smart-weapons section, includes
many details about the specifications of the missiles, operating manuals,
and the electronic heat-seeking control systems of the missiles. The
section is very thorough and even includes illustrations.
Dilaimi does not fail to brag about the recent downing of US aircraft using
these missiles, saying, "The best example we can give about these missiles
is the downing of 10 helicopters in one month in Iraq, such as the Apache,
Black Hawk, Chinook and even an F-16 fighter jet that was shot down in
al-Karma area west of Baghdad by the Islamic State of Iraq Mujahideen in
cooperation with the Mujahideen Army on November 27, 2006."
Furthermore, the training touches on the types of supersonic aircraft,
helicopters and slow military cargo planes and missile countermeasures
employed by these aircraft, such as heat flares that can throw heat-seeking
missiles off course and infra-red missile-repelling systems. The
Russian-made Igla is an exception, as it has a nitrogen-cooled heat-seeking
system capable of resisting the heat flares and identifying the real target
among the decoy targets.
The section also includes Igla and Stinger specification lists and a table
of the English equivalents of the technical terms used in Arabic. Dilaimi
ends the training with a note saying, "We would like to assert that the
mujahideen have [proved] skillful use of [this] weaponry by inflicting
heavy loses on the colonizing US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan."
Section 4: The secrets of the mujahideen
Also mentioned in other jihadist publications, "Secrets of the Mujahideen"
is a computer program for Internet communications. According to the
security section of the Global Islamic Media Front, who wrote this
training section, it is the first Islamic encryption software.
The section on the program affirms the necessity of creating Islamic
encryption tools due to the currently ineffective programs available on the
market. In general, the section talks about five topics: (1) encryption and
correspondence through the Internet; (2) encrypting personal e-mails; (3)
the degree of encryption and the symmetric (128-bit) and asymmetric
(1,024-bit) encryption keys; (4) public encryption keys and pass phrases
that protect them; and (5) private encryption keys and decryption keys.
The authors claim that the Secrets of the Mujahideen program offers the
highest level of encryption in asymmetric encoding that furnishes safe
transfer of public encryption keys over the Internet. The keys, which use
"key prints" to identify the recipient, can be advertised in the jihadi
forums.
In general, the strength of the jihadist encryption program lies in the
following: the use of the best five algorithms in encryption science;
strong symmetric encryption; private and public asymmetric 2,048-bit keys;
strong compression of data; use of stealthy encryption keys and algorithms;
secure deletion of files and elimination of retrieval possibilities; and
the ability to run it from a flash disk, ie, the program does not have to
run from a computer hard drive.
The encryption training section is extremely detailed and explains all the
technical implications of the program. The writers claim that the program
surpasses all international symmetric encryption systems.
Section 5-6: Video technology and subtitling
This is the second lesson in a series that will be included in future
issues of the magazine. Although very technical, there is nothing unusual
about the video training as it talks about signal reception, sample rates
and vertical video samples.
In the same context, the training explains how to dub video clips with
subtitles and background voiceovers. Video skills are clearly needed by
jihadis for their propaganda campaigns. One well-known example would be the
videos released of the "Baghdad Sniper" (Terrorism Focus, February 14). Abu
al-Hassan al-Magribi, the writer of this section, concludes by stressing
the importance of translating jihadist propaganda into as many foreign
languages as possible.
The conclusion of the magazine
The editor-in-chief ends the magazine with an article calling on jihadi
forum participants to contribute technical information to the magazine,
saying, "Haven't you thought that you might have some knowledge that would
assist your brothers in our nascent Islamic state of Iraq? My technical
jihadi brother, this magazine gives you the opportunity to share whatever
scientific knowledge you have with tens of thousands of jihadis frequenting
the Islamic forums.
"Half of the efforts we exert in our battles against enemies of God
occupying our land in Iraq, Palestine, Chechnya and Somalia lie in the
media that will enlighten our fellow Muslims with facts about the crusaders."
He reminds the readers of al-Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Hamza al-Muhajir's
call to Muslim scholars and scientists to use their knowledge for the
benefit of jihad. Finally, the magazine instructs willing participants to
send their technical articles to www.teqanymag.arabform.com. That website
contains a welcoming note from the board of editors of the magazine and a
contact form where participants can send in their technical articles.
The next issue of Technical Mujahid is set to contain the following
subjects: jihadi forums and secure surfing on the Internet; smart weapons
such as night vision and thermal imaging; and information on how
intelligence agencies can bug cellular phones. Also, al-Fajr Information
Center has announced the release of an interview with a jihadi leader in
Afghanistan that will be posted soon.
Clearly, the Technical Mujahid is not a magazine for the common jihadi,
since it contains many scientific details. To comprehend and apply the
training the magazine offers, the jihadi has to have a certain level of
education and specific academic background or be tutored by an expert in
training camps or safe houses. Nevertheless, it is another example of how
the Internet is used to train fellow mujahideen in topics ranging from
weapons training to secure communications.
Abdul Hameed Bakier is an intelligence expert on counter-terrorism, crisis
management and terrorist-hostage negotiations. He is based in Jordan.
(This article first appeared in The Jamestown Foundation. Used with permission.)
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