[Air-L] ISIS & Boko Haram

[Guy J Golan]

I just complete a survey regarding ISIS social media and perceptions of influence. I will have a first drat to share in a few months. I would love suggestions for citations as well. Keep them coming, thanks, Guy

Sent from my iPad

> On Apr 10, 2015, at 10:31 AM, nativebuddha <nativebuddha at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Dear all,
> 
> I haven't conducted any systematic analysis (boy, that is a stuffy
> sentence, isn't it?).
> 
> However, I have become increasingly fascinated by how social forces like to
> generate threat from sparse thread. When  *terror* groups (ISIS, Boko
> Haram, Al-Shabab) learn how to post to twitter and youtube, it is instantly
> proposed that they can *hack* and eventually commandeer entire state
> infrastructures from afar (water, electricity, etc.). At they same time,
> those tech-savvy *terror* groups are  also framed as sub-human,
> head-choppers. In other words, they become the ultimate enemy--animal
> geniuses able to navigate the *matrix*. (The dog at the computer?).
> 
> Journalists may be the initial frontline of this framing, but they usually
> get their initial images from government officials and the intell
> community. There's a lot of gov't money being dumped into cybersecurity
> right now, and it appears that shining a light on ISIS and BH feeds that
> push.
> 
> I'm not saying that this is all MI-complex machinations, but it isn't
> helping.
> 
> Besides, proposing potential cyberthreat is an unfalsifiable proposition,
> because it *could* happen, someday. In fact, the chance that it *could*
> happen increases the more that it hasn't happened (supposedly).
> 
> -robert
> 
> 
> 
>> On Fri, Apr 10, 2015 at 9:40 AM, Seda Gurses <seda at nyu.edu> wrote:
>> 
>> thanks robert for the inquiry and the others for the responses. robert, i
>> hope you will share offline responses you may get on the list, too.
>> 
>> i am interested in how cybersecurity research is being shaped, and a lot
>> of it is justified through current “attacks on the cyber”. so, if it is ok
>> with robert, i would like to join this thread and say i would appreciate
>> any references to studies that look at different cyberattacks, like the one
>> on sony, from a critical perspective.
>> thank you,
>> seda
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>>> On Apr 10, 2015, at 9:07 AM, Maura Conway <maura.conway at dcu.ie> wrote:
>>> 
>>> Hi Robert, Richard, and All,
>>> 
>>> I'm not familiar with any substantive research on the cyber attack
>>> capabilities of particular violent extremist groups, albeit a lot of ink
>>> has been spilled recently by journalists on IS' alleged capabilities.
>>> 
>>> I have written rather a lot on so-called 'cyberterrorism,' but only treat
>>> capabilities minimally and instead tend to focus upon other issues--like
>>> theatricality, etc.--that are probably more important from a terrorism,
>> as
>>> opposed to a technology, perspective.
>>> 
>>> You may nevertheless be interested in a couple of my papers:
>>> 
>>> My most recent is 'Reality Check: Assessing the (Un)Likelihood of
>>> Cyberterrorism' (2015)' at http://doras.dcu.ie/20060/
>>> 
>>> A condensed version of my position is 'Against Cyberterrorism' (2011) at
>>> http://doras.dcu.ie/16237/
>>> 
>>> I guess it's clear enough where I stand!
>>> 
>>> Best,
>>> Maura
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>>> On 10 April 2015 at 13:32, Richard Forno <rforno at infowarrior.org> wrote:
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> (early morning, un-caffeinated response follows)
>>>> 
>>>> Only with a semi-interested curiosity from time to time in case I get
>>>> asked by a journalist. ;)   Most cyberattacks and hacktivism incidents
>>>> these days don't rile my feathers anymore, even if the media falls over
>>>> itself to 'report' (or more accurately, 'speculate') on them.   (And
>> don't
>>>> get me started on the 'politics of cyber', either.)
>>>> 
>>>> As always, the issue with tracking and/or reporting on these things  is
>>>> attribution[1] unless otherwise immediately claimed or confirmed by a
>> known
>>>> and semi-trustworthy authority --- ie, the leader or some other credible
>>>> spokesperson known to speak on behalf of BH or ISIS or whomever. Sure,
>>>> someone can claim to be from Group X but in actuality are a lone wolf
>>>> and/or hold no formal association with the group they claim to be
>> "from".
>>>> They may simply be "aspirational" supporters in one way or other.
>>>> 
>>>> In terms of media reporting of such incidents, my own nonscientific view
>>>> is that nearly all reporting on cyber whodunits is speculation and/or
>>>> flat-out wrong for at least 48-72 hours, if not longer.
>>>> 
>>>> There are some independent groups that follow this stuff as a
>> professional
>>>> service to clients - including the media I believe.   I can dig up some
>>>> links if that'd be helpful when I can.
>>>> 
>>>> That's a long-winded answer to your question that I probably could've
>> said
>>>> "Kinda, sorta, yeah, maybe" and saved the bandwidth.  :)
>>>> 
>>>> -- rick
>>>> 
>>>> [1] A *huge* problem for the security services, military, and even
>>>> politicians who flail about trying to point fingers at whatever they
>> can.
>>>> 
>>>> --
>>>> It's better to burn out than fade away.
>>>> 
>>>>>> On Apr 10, 2015, at 7:27 AM, nativebuddha <nativebuddha at gmail.com>
>>>>> wrote:
>>>>> 
>>>>> Anybody else out there tracking the alleged "cyberattack" capabilities
>> of
>>>>> ISIS and Boko Haram?
>>>>> 
>>>>> -robert
>>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> --
>>> 
>>> 
>>> *Dr. Maura Conway*
>>> *Senior Lecturer in International Security *School of Law and Government
>>> Dublin City University
>>> Glasnevin
>>> Dublin 9
>>> Ireland
>>> 
>>> Tel. +353 1 700 6472
>>> E-Mail. maura.conway at dcu.ie
>>> Skype. galwaygrrl
>>> 
>>> Twitter: @galwaygrrl
>>> 
>>> Website: http://doras.dcu.ie/view/people/Conway,_Maura.html
>>> 
>>> **********
>>> 
>>> VOX-Pol Project on Violent Online Political Extremism
>>> 
>>> Website: http://www.voxpol.eu
>>> 
>>> Twitter: @VOX_Pol
>>> 
>>> --
>>> 
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