With the advent of technology, terrorists have changed their strategies and converted themselves into high-tech, sophisticated groups.
“While Osama Bin Laden had his fingers on the trigger, his children have their fingers on the mouse.”
Until now people have fought for food, water or territory, but today the definition and motivation of fighting is changed, i.e. terrorism. Terrorists often strike soft targets such as innocent citizens and government infrastructure. The aim of terrorists is to turn people against the government. Terrorists are ahead of law enforcement agencies in adapting to the latest changing technology and use it as a medium to spread terror across the globe. In the recent past, terrorists had been physically present to carry out acts of terrorism. But with the advent of technology, they have changed their strategies and converted themselves into high-tech, sophisticated groups, such as ISIS and Al Qaeda. They have their own cyber cells and command and control centers, which are used to monitor and control their activities. This article throws light on covert communication techniques used by terrorists to communicate using various techniques.
The increased dependency on communication and data networks, storage of information in cyber domain and their vulnerabilities to the outside world and lack of mutual consent between countries on effective control of operations in the cyber domain has brought a new type of threat. Cyberspace, the fifth space of warfare after land, sea, air and space, is all about the computer networks in the world and everything they connect and control via cable, fiber-optic or wireless. The Internet is used for interconnecting people, including terrorists who are among the first to use the latest technologies even before government agencies.
The Hyderabad Police arrested three students on Dec. 26, 2015, for allegedly planning to join ISIS and “deciding” to meet separatist leader Asiya Andrabi to seek her help to enter Pakistan-occupied Kashmir enroute to Syria. YouTube was used as a communication medium to seek help from Andrabi. In another case, Delhi Police on Dec. 29, 2015, arrested a former Indian Air Force official from Punjab for allegedly sharing secret documents with Pakistan’s ISI after he was “honey trapped” by a woman with links to the spy agency. Ranjith was allegedly introduced to the spy ring by an unidentified woman whom he had met over a social networking site and shared information through a fake Facebook account.
In May 2015, when two terrorists attempted to kill people in Garland, Texas, they were stopped by local law enforcement after it was revealed that the morning before, one of those terrorists exchanged 109 messages with an overseas terrorist. The government agencies replied, “We have no idea what he said because those messages were encrypted. That’s a big problem, and we have to grapple with it.” So here encryption played a role in the obstruction and helped secure communication between the terrorists. In Paris, the massive attack by ISIS used encrypted communications via TOR and social media. For communication purpose, they used telegram-like apps, which securely communicated the messages to other group members involved in that attack.
During the Mumbai attacks on November 2008, 10 Pakistani members of Lashkar-e-Taiba, an Islamic militant organization based in Pakistan, carried out a series of 12 coordinated shooting and bombing attacks lasting four days across Mumbai. They used GPS-based maps, satellite-based phones for the communication purpose and live telecasts to monitor the event. The communication medium changed during every stage of the attack. Thus it becomes very difficult for law enforcement agencies to hunt them down.
A study has shown that typically, terrorists communicate through normal network channels using secret encoding techniques such as Steganography and Hidden watermarking which may not be traced out by intelligence agencies. These techniques, with high tech encrypted communication, may not be traced out through interception. Terrorists have analyzed the various social media platforms and categorized them so that their sympathizers can use these platforms with caution.
- Common Techniques.
- Using Mores Codes or DTMF audio files to send confidential codes.
- Barcodes or QR Codes for GPS coordinates or location, map, auto message.
DTMF and Morse Code For Covert Communication Of Code Exchange
A suspected terrorist named Tom Corty was suspected of stealing missile activation codes from the Air Force, which were handed to officials for a brief period of time. If a suspect misuses the code, then the Air Force may face serious issues. A thumb drive of Corty’s was found in formatted state and was used to store the activation code. Fortunately, the system had made a backup image of the drive.
The file name is win7.bak, which is a backup of a Windows FAT file system machine, and the investigator creates an image file of that backup file for fetching potential artifacts.
Found Encrypted Archive File
DTMF Code Audio File Is There In Encrypted Archive File
DTMF Code is Decoded
The Code Is Decoded i.e. AA6B A4A8 3C67 DDC7
Thus the investigator successfully fetched the activation code detail from the above-mentioned code.
Barcodes or Qr Codes For GPS Coordinates or Location, Map, Auto Message
Barcode generally has a 12- to 20-digit number. It is primarily used for serial numbers, pricing and inventory control for products worldwide. The most common barcode in North America is the 12-digit Universal Product Code (UPC) code. UPC codes are used with groceries and books and can be used to track virtually any type ofmerchandise. Marketers track consumer choices by analyzing what they are purchasing. With the advent of free barcode scanners on mobile devices, marketers can also pinpoint what age groups are buying what.
But barcode or Quick response code may also be used for communication. If a terrorist group wants to communicate via covert communication, they can use this technology as a secure message passing system. Figure below shows the meeting will be held at Theatre Royal at 24 February 2016.
Qr Code of Meeting Place
Conclusion
From the above case studies, it can be understood that terrorists can use the high-tech medium of covert communication channels for passing their secret messages to group members. It is also important that investigators should think out-of-the-box to understand the modus operandi and technology. The secret is no more secret when it comes to proper intelligence and applying novel detection strategies to identify the secrecy.
Written by: Mr. Nilay Mistry
Author Bio: Mr. Nilay Mistry working as Assistant Professor and PG Course Coordinator at Institute of Forensic Science, Gujarat Forensic Sciences University. He is actively involved in various research projects in cyber forensics. He is also involved in capacity building of various LEAs, Military & Para Military forces of India and International Police and Intelligence agency.
(Security Affairs – terrorists, cyber security)
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