http://www.netmon.ch/presse/030510_tst.php?id=2Cyber-war on terror: The check's in the e-mail
«Digital Pearl Harbor» on water and power systems possible, so cyber-security firms race against terrorists.
ALL your fears that someone else is reading your e-mail and studying your Web habits are true.
But what you say or do online is usually not important enough to be scrutinsed. Cyber-security firms, like NetMon Inc from Switzerland, have bigger fish to fry - terrorists.
At the start of the two-day conference here on Thursday on «The Changing Face of Terrorism», terrorism expert from around the world gathered to examine evolving tactics, technologies and targets of terrorist groups.
NetMon's chief executive Guido Rudolphi gave a chilling assessment of terrorists' use of the Internet, showing how sophisticated their communication networks are.
Mr Rudolphi, 42, said that while the threat of cyber-terrorism or a «digital Pearl Harbor» is still small, terrorists' technological capabillities have greatly advanced.
They have yet to use the Web to strike critical infrastructure like water systems or power plants, which some fear are the next targets for technologically-savy terrorists.
He said: «We have seen a lot of Virus attacks ... which did slow down the Internet and cause some damage. But they were all far from causing Terror.»
NetMon's experience in tracking terrorist groups stems from its investigations into organised crime, child pornography and illegal gambling on the Inernet.
Some links between these groups may appear far fetched, but the web of communication can be unearthed, said Mr Rudolphi, by culling clues from the Internet protocol (IP) addresses and the homepages of suspects.
For instance, in a year-long investigation which started in 2001, NetMon managed to link the activities of a right-wing radical in Switzerland to former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein - from a simple Internet chatroom conversation.
It also exposed of a former director of a Switzerland-based financial services company who had links with terror mastermind Osama bin Laden.
By combining online and IRL (geek-speak for «in real live») research, Mr Rudolphi and his team managed to find out the radical's real name, the car he drove, schools he attended, workplaces, mobile phone number and even the wine he liked. Such information helped the authorities to take appropriate action.
Using a variety of hidden channels and hidden texts, terrorists have found creative ways to communicate with each other, including encrypting text within images and using unregistered cell phones.
«This makes it more difficult to locate them. And because messages can be sent around the globe, it can take months to find out who received them», said Mr Rudolphi, who is also the firm's chief investigator.
He said censorship and privacy issues complicate their investigations and force them to be more creative.
«In the last few months, a lot of new tools have been developed to protect online privacy. But these tools create new ways of communication which are almost impossible to trace and monitor», he said.
This calls for creativity on the part of cyber-security personnel because evidence obtained on the net cannot always be presented in court.
And the war on cyber-terrorism should not focus just on terrorists, as the methods of groups like child pornographers and organised crime groups offer insights into the subversive use of the web.
Mr Rudolphi added: «Luckily, at the moment, most terrorist organisations use the Internet as a communication tool and nothing else.
This could change, but until then, people need to be responsible and vigilant with their systems because the price one has to pay if protection falls will be high.»
Newspaper: The Straits Times
Country: Singapore
Date of issue: May 10, 2003
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