The web, it is often said, inherently benefits the insurgent. Thus it's no surprise that it's becoming the medium of choice for terrorists and violent extremist groups around the world. Tracing "terror 2.0" from the November 2008 attacks in Mumbai—arguably the first networked terrorist attack—up through the Times Square bomber, who was radicalized after watching online videos from Muslim cleric Anwar Al-Awlaki and others, this presentation will examine how terrorists are using the same tools we're developing for spreading information and social networking in the West for their own nefarious purposes—even sometimes live online to coordinate unfolding attacks. Learn how al Qaeda, the Iraq insurgency, Lashkar-e-Taiba, the Taliban, and even Russian organized crime is running scams, coordinating attacks, recruiting followers, raising money, and living their lives online alongside regular web users. For instance, the Taliban's website was, for a long period, hosted on a server in Houston, Texas, and al Qaeda's primary webmaster—who helped pass around online bomb-making guides, radical videos, downloadable extremist sermons, and hostage videos—turned out to be a 22-year-old geek in West London.
http://schedule.sxsw.com/events/event_IAP5405
