The use of the Internet

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10 THE USE OF THE INTERNET FOR TERRORIST PURPOSES The court therefore found sufficient evidence to demonstrate, as required under the French Criminal Code, that Hicheur had provided not merely intellectual support but also direct logistical support to a clearly identified terrorist plan. The decision of the court is appealable. Sources: Judgement of 4 May 2012 of the Tribunal de Grande Instance de Paris; and Tung, Liam, Jihadists get world-class encryption kit (29 January 2008), available from www.zdnet.com.au/jihadists-get-world-class-encryption-kit-339285480.htm. 21. Steps may also be taken via the Internet to identify a potential target of an attack and the most effective means of achieving the terrorist purpose. These preparatory steps may range from obtaining instructions on recommended methods of attack to collecting open-source and other information regarding a proposed target. The ability of the Internet to bridge distances and borders, and the vast amount of information publicly available in cyberspace, make the Internet a key tool in the planning of terrorist acts. (a) Preparatory secret communication 22. The most basic function of the Internet is to facilitate communication. Terrorists have become increasingly sophisticated at exploiting communications technologies for anonymous communication related to the planning of terrorist acts. A simple online e-mail account may be used by terrorists for electronic, or virtual, “dead dropping” of communications. This refers to the creation of a draft message, which remains unsent, and therefore leaves minimal electronic traces, but which may be accessed from any Internet terminal worldwide by multiple individuals with the relevant password. 23. There is also an abundance of more sophisticated technologies that increase the difficulty of identifying the originator, recipient or content of Internet communications. Encryption tools and anonymizing software are readily available online for download. These tools may, inter alia, mask the unique Internet Protocol (IP) address that identifies each device used to access the Internet and its location, reroute Internet communications via one or more servers to jurisdictions with lower levels of enforcement against terrorist activity and/or encrypt traffic data relating to websites accessed. Steganography, the hiding of messages in images, may also be used. (b) Publicly available information 24. Organizations and individuals often publish extensive amounts of information on the Internet. In the case of organizations, this may be a result in part of a desire to promote their activities and streamline their interaction with the public. Some sensitive information that may be used by terrorists for illicit purposes is also made available through Internet search engines, which may catalogue and retrieve inadequately protected information from millions of websites. Further, online access to detailed logistical information, such as real-time closed-circuit television footage, and applications such as Google Earth, which is intended for and primarily used by individuals for legitimate ends, may be misused by those intent on benefiting from the free access to
CHAPTER I. USE OF THE INTERNET FOR TERRORIST PURPOSES high-resolution satellite imagery, maps and information on terrain and buildings for the reconnaissance of potential targets from a remote computer terminal. 25. Particularly in the age of popular social networking media, such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Flickr and blogging platforms, individuals also publish, voluntarily or inadvertently, an unprecedented amount of sensitive information on the Internet. While the intent of those distributing the information may be to provide news or other updates to their audience for informational or social purposes, some of this information may be misappropriated and used for the benefit of criminal activity. 5. Execution 26. Elements of the categories described above may be employed in the use of the Internet for the execution of terrorist acts. For example, explicit threats of violence, including in relation to the use of weapons, may be disseminated via the Internet to induce anxiety, fear or panic in a population or subset of the population. In many Member States, the act of issuing such threats, even if unfulfilled, may be deemed an offence. For example, in China, the fabrication of a threat and/or the circulation of a threat that is known to be fabricated in relation to the use of bombs or biological, chemical, or radioactive materials or other weapons, when committed with the intent “to seriously disrupt public order”, is criminalized under domestic legislation. 16 Internet communications may also be used as a means to communicate with potential victims or to coordinate the execution of physical acts of terrorism. For example, the Internet was used extensively in the coordination of participants in the attacks of 11 September 2001 in the United States. 27. The use of the Internet in furtherance of the execution of acts of terrorism may, inter alia, offer logistical advantages, reduce the likelihood of detection or obscure the identity of responsible parties. Internet activity may also facilitate the acquisition of items necessary for the execution of the attack. Terrorists may purchase individual components or services required to perpetrate violent acts of terrorism by means of electronic commerce. Misappropriated credit cards or other forms of compromised electronic payment may be used to finance such purchases. 6. Cyberattacks 28. A cyberattack generally refers to the deliberate exploitation of computer networks as a means to launch an attack. Such attacks are typically intended to disrupt the proper functioning of targets, such as computer systems, servers or underlying infrastructure, through the use of hacking, advanced persistent threat techniques, computer viruses, malware, 17 phlooding 18 or other means of unauthorized or malicious access. Cyberattacks 16 Written submission of expert from China. 17 Pursuant to the International Telecommunication Union Toolkit for Cybercrime Legislation, section 1 (n), malware may be defined as a program that is inserted into a computer program or system, usually covertly, with the intent of compromising the confidentiality, integrity or availability of the computer program, data or system. 18 “Phlooding” refers to the targeting of the central authentication servers of an organization with multiple simultaneous authentication requests, with the aim of overloading the servers, resulting in a distributed denial of service. 11
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