Jihadi Groups Use Web 2.0 Social Media More Effectively Than Western Governments

by Mike Brennan


DEARORN – The Internet has become the platform of choice for extremist activities and in most cases these jihadi groups have use Web 2.0 technology more effectively than Western governments, Jeff Bardin, a Middle Eastern security expert told hundreds of attendees during the first day of the SecureWorld Expo Detroit 2009 conference at the Ford Conference & Event Center.

In his breakfast keynote, Bardin, a principal at Treadstone 71, took an in-depth look at the methods of information dissemination, recruitment, product development, hacking and propaganda examining their encryption tools, methods of dead drops, steganography, use of video, denial of service and online storage capabilities as their recruits access jihadi social networks directly.

They are adroit at using Twitter, Flicker, Facebook and other social networks to put their spin on stories in English and German to reach a Western audience.

Jihadi groups use online audio and video to provide training for everything from bomb making, to web site development, Bardin said. In the 2004 Madrid railroad bombings, Bardin speculated the jihadi groups had access to the security cameras that ringed the city to make sure the bombs killed the most possible people when they went off.

“They are using our web infrastructure against us,” he said. “They are using everything we have created in Web 2.0, but using it better than we are.”

They are so sophisticated that they use cloud storage sites to park their audio and video uploads, he said. They produce Taliban news flashes daily and get leadership videos posted about a week after they are shot in their mountain hideaways.

A popular new feature is listing the Top 10 martyrdom operations in video to highlight their terror tactics.

“They have something for everyone, including a hacked video game,” Bardin said. “They love to hack our security software for their own uses.”

Now their moving their message to mobile devices to protect the information they send, he said. They are also encrypting text messages in Arab, English and French.

Bardin has held CIO, CSO and CISO roles in Fortune 1000 companies and held Top Secret clearances while breaking codes & ciphers and performing Arabic language translations serving in the US Air Force and at the National Security Agency. He also has international experience in the greater Mediterranean region and the Middle East.

Day Two of the SecureWorld Expo Detroit Conference begins at 8:30 am with InfraGard Keynote: The Onerous Data Mountains Should be Our Tactical High-ground, a presentation of the art-of-the-possible in terms of mega source data presented in the context of a national ontology, presented by retired US Marine Major General Bradley Lott, the CEO of True North Logistics.

Lott just stepped down as Executive Director of the Defense Contract Coordination Center, a division of the Michigan Economic Development Corp. For more information, click on SecureWorldExpo.Com