The use of the Internet for terrorist purposes In collaboration with the UNITED NATIONS COUNTER-TERRORISM IMPLEMENTATION TASK FORCE UNITED NATIONS OFFICE ON DRUGS AND CRIME Vienna THE USE OF THE INTERNET FOR TERRORIST PURPOSES UNITED NATIONS New York, 2012 © United Nations, September 2012. All rights reserved. The designations employed and the presentation of material in the present publica- tion do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Sec- retariat of the United Nations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. Information on uniform resource locators and links to Internet sites contained in the present publication are provided for the convenience of the reader and are cor- rect at the time of issue. The United Nations takes no responsibility for the continued accuracy of that information or for the content of any external website. Publishing production: English, Publishing and Library Section, United Nations Office at Vienna. “The Internet is a prime example of how terrorists can behave in a truly transnational way; in response, States need to think and function in an equally transnational manner.” Ban Ki-moon Secretary-General of the United Nations v Foreword Executive Director United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime The use of the Internet for terrorist purposes is a rapidly growing phenomenon, requiring a proactive and coordinated response from Member States. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) plays a key role in providing assistance to Member States, in furtherance of its mandate to strengthen the capacity of national criminal justice systems to implement the provisions of the international legal instruments against terrorism, and does so in compliance with the principles of rule of law and international human rights standards. In particular, in 2011, the General Assembly, in its resolution 66/178, reaffirmed the mandate of UNODC to continue to develop specialized legal knowledge in the area of counter-terrorism and pertinent thematic areas, including the use of the Internet for terrorist purposes. Despite increasing international recognition of the threat posed by terrorists’ use of the Internet in recent years, there is currently no universal instrument specifically address- ing this pervasive facet of terrorist activity. Moreover, there is limited specialized training available on the legal and practical aspects of the investigation and prosecution of ter- rorism cases involving the use of the Internet. The present publication complements the existing resources developed by UNODC in the areas of counter-terrorism, cyber- crime and rule of law. It also addresses the importance of developing integrated, specialized knowledge to respond to the technical assistance needs of Member States in combating this continually evolving threat. UNODC is deeply grateful for the generous support of the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, which made the publication of that work possible. The publication, which is intended for use both as a stand-alone resource and in sup- port of the capacity-building initiatives of UNODC, is aimed at providing guidance regarding current legal frameworks and practice at the national and international levels relating to the criminalization, investigation and prosecution of terrorist cases involving the Internet. Terrorism, in all its manifestations, affects us all. The use of the Internet to further terrorist purposes disregards national borders, amplifying the potential impact on victims. By highlighting cases and best practices that respond to this unique challenge, the present publication has two aims: first, to promote a better understanding of the ways in which communications technologies may be misused in furtherance of acts of ter- rorism and, second, to increase collaboration among Member States, so that effective criminal justice responses to this transnational challenge can be developed. Yury Fedotov Executive Director United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime vi Secretary-General’s Counter-Terrorism Implementation Task Force The Working Group on Countering the Use of the Internet for Terrorist Purposes of the Counter-Terrorism Implementation Task Force is aimed at coordinating the activities of the United Nations system in support of the United Nations Global Counter- Terrorism Strategy, adopted by the General Assembly in its resolution 60/288, in which Member States resolved to “coordinate efforts at the international and regional levels to counter terrorism in all its forms and manifestations on the Internet” and “use the Internet as a tool for countering the spread of terrorism, while recognizing that States may require assistance in this regard”. The Working Group has identified three key themes for discussion: legal issues, technical issues and ways in which the international community might use the Internet more effectively to counter terrorism by exposing the fallacy of the terrorist message that violence is a legitimate way to effect political change. The present study, produced by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and conducted within the framework of the Working Group, owes much to the contribution and support of Member States. It takes discussion of the legal challenges to the next stage and adds significantly to the knowledge and expertise that the Working Group has accumulated and shared with Member States in that area. In particular, it provides important examples of Member State legislation dealing with terrorist use of the Internet and demonstrates, through real examples of legal cases, the difficulties faced by Member States in criminalizing and prosecuting such acts. The Working Group is confident that the present report will help to identify the legisla- tive areas in which the United Nations can assist in the implementation by Member States of the Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy in combating the use of the Internet for terrorist purposes. Richard Barrett Coordinator of the Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team Co-Chair of the Counter-Terrorism Implementation Task Force Working Group on Countering the Use of the Internet for Terrorist Purposes vii Government of the United Kingdom The United Kingdom has pioneered legislation to counter use of the Internet for ter- rorist purposes over the past decade; we have had considerable success in tackling online terrorist activity within the country’s borders, while doing our utmost to uphold free- doms and benefits that the Internet has brought to our citizens. However, we recognize that the threat is transnational by its very nature. Only by tak- ing action together can the international community hope to tackle terrorist use of the Internet effectively. The British Government therefore welcomes the opportunity to support UNODC in producing the publication that you are about to read. We hope that it will rapidly become a useful tool for legislators, law enforcement officials and criminal justice practitioners to develop and implement legal frameworks that will effectively disrupt terrorists’ activities online. If so, it will make a valuable contribution to making our communities—both real and virtual—safer places. Simon Shercliff Sue Hemming OBE Head, Counter Terrorism (Ops) Department Foreign and Commonwealth Office Head of the Special Crime and Counter Terrorism Division Crown Prosecution Service [...]... be exploited for the purposes of t errorism The use of the Internet for terrorist purposes creates both challenges and opportunities in the fight against terrorism B. eans by which the Internet is utilized for terrorist purposes M 2. For the purposes of the present publication, a functional approach has been adopted regarding the classification of the means by which the Internet is often utilized... 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. .. 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... is one of the strategic factors driving the increasing use of the Internet by terrorist organizations and their supporters for a wide range of purposes, including recruitment, financing, propaganda, training, incitement to commit acts of terrorism, and the gathering and dissemination of information for terrorist purposes While the many benefits of the Internet are self-evident, it may also be used to... Conway, Terrorist use of the Internet and fighting back”, Information & Security, vol 19 (2006), pp 12 13 12-14 7 THE USE OF THE INTERNET FOR TERRORIST PURPOSES 3. Training 17. In recent years, terrorist organizations have increasingly turned to the Internet as an alternative training ground for terrorists There is a growing range of media that provide platforms for the dissemination of practical... illicit purposes, their use of the Internet also provides opportunities for the gathering of intelligence and other activities to prevent and counter acts of terrorism, as well as for the gathering of evidence for the prosecution of such acts A significant amount of knowledge about the functioning, activities and sometimes the targets of terrorist organizations is derived from website, chat room and other... of UNODC and with the support of the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, undertook to contribute to the Working Group project through the development of the current technical assistance tool on the use of the Internet for terrorist purposes The current UNODC publication builds upon the conclusions of the Working Group conferences, and in particular the conference held... January 2010, the Task Force’s Working Group on Countering the Use of the Internet for Terrorist Purposes initiated a series of conferences involving representatives from Governments, international and regional organizations, think tanks, academia and the private sector to evaluate the use of the Internet for terrorist purposes and potential means to counter such use The objective of the Working Group... details of thousands of Israeli nationals.19 While a considerable amount of attention has focused in recent years on the threat of cyberattacks by terrorists, that topic is beyond the scope of the present publication and, as such, will not be a subject of analysis C. Uses of the Internet for countering terrorist activity 29. While terrorists have developed many ways to use the Internet in furtherance of. .. 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 16 17 11 THE USE OF THE INTERNET FOR TERRORIST PURPOSES . Use of the Internet for terrorist purposes 3 A. Introduction 3 B. Means by which the Internet is utilized for terrorist purposes 3 C. Uses of the Internet. facilitate the more effective investi- gation and prosecution of terrorist cases involving the use of the Internet. 3 I. Use of the Internet for terrorist purposes