There has been some speculation rolling around that is worth taking a look at. Usually I wouldn’t put too much thought into the rumors that run around the internet about things of this nature, but I think there might be something to this one. I first started looking into this after seeing it speculated on by @th3j35t3r, who I consider to be a fairly reliable source when it comes to jihadist propaganda and the internet.

Let’s start with a question: Is it possible that Anonymous has been infiltrated and influenced by terrorists, their supporters, or sympathizers? While, in such a loose organization (if you can really call Anonymous that) it is extremely tough to really nail down an answer to that with any hard evidence to support it either way. However, there are some rather interesting trends in their activity.

My question was is it possible so I’ll start there. The general structure of terrorist organizations is changing rapidly. The neutralization of UBL (rock on USNSWC) has left al Qaeda, in particular, in unfamiliar territory. Leadership transition is a challenging feat for any organization, but many do not survive the transition from the first leader. While I don’t think there was any real doubt that al-Zawahiri would succeed UBL, it is important to consider that he is not UBL. He does not command the same mythical status among the membership that UBL enjoyed. His methods, ideas, plans, and tactics will be questioned.

Enter what has been called al-Qaeda 2.0, the younger, more technologically familiar generation of jihadist. The next generation will not be so content with hiding in the safety of caves, or isolated areas. The internet, and social media in particular, have become important and useful recruiting tools  for the jihad movement. When al-Qaeda was first formed, these tools were not available. Because of this, while the leadership of al-Qaeda undoubtedly recognized the potential of these assets, they were not familiar with them enough to truly maximize that potential. That cannot stay true forever. There is a newer thought process that can, will, and is developing. One popular misconception about these types of groups is that they are uneducated, cave-dwelling, backwards people that if they only understood the western thought process would see the light and give up the jihad for modern lives and comforts. This is NOT the case anymore. Take, for example, Anwar al-Awlaki. There is a reason many consider this man to be the number one terrorist threat to the United States. Unlike bin-Laden or al-Zawahiri, he understands the western culture. Probably better than most that live in it and take it for granted on a daily basis. He was born in the U.S., lived here until he was in his early thirties. He is educated, and has been known to use modern technology like Facebook and other social media to spread his message. He’s a different animal all together. Can you imagine UBL tweeting about his Farmville? While it’s not really too likely that al-Awlaki would waste his time or energy on something so trivial, there is something to be said just about his knowledge of what Farmville and Twitter are. While Farmville is trivial, Twitter can be much more useful.

Enter Anonymous. If you look at the recent Anonymous/ Lulzsec activity, you can see just how successful something like Twitter can be. The twitter account @anonymouSabu has over eighteen thousand followers. A number that has grown by fifty since I started this paragraph. Having 18000 people hearing everything you choose to say, as soon as you say it is quite a bit of influence. Especially when many of those people are young, impressionable, yet still pretty intelligent, young people in their teens and early twenties. For example, let’s look at the case of Topiary. This guy is 18, bright, and had no prior criminal record. He wasn’t oppressed or disadvantaged. He was impressionable and capable.

Now let’s look at the recent trend that seems to be sweeping Anonymous, primarily at the hands of Lulzsec. I can understand Op Paypal, even if I don’t agree with it. Paypal gets pressured over Wikileaks, capitulates, and cuts off processing their cash. Anonymous gets pissed off and DDoS’s them offline. A lot of people believe what Wikileaks did to be journalism, reporting the information they were given, even if they do feel like it was irresponsible. However, I would wager that out of all the people involved with Op Paypal, half of them could have cared less about Wikileaks, Manning, or anything else involved. I’d also wager that the majority of them were under 18, living with Mommy, and suffered from to much time on their hands combined with the desire to be part of something regardless of what it was. They wanted to be” hackers”, yet the LOIC (Low Orbit Ion Cannon- anonymous DDoS weapon of choice) doesn’t require that they posses any of the knowledge or skill that goes with that tag. As a matter of fact, the most recent version doesn’t even require the user to be able to select their target on their own. The control over their machine could be turned over to the IRC channel so all they had to do to be a big bad “hacker” was be able to double click an icon. So easy a child could do it. Why do you suppose that is? There really is only one reason to make something so that it can be easily used by a child. So that it can be used by a child. Who was the target market for that product? Responsible, free thinking adults, with considerable computer skills, and a firm set of beliefs? Not exactly. Someone went through a considerable amount of effort to deliberately remove each of those qualifications from the list of prerequisites needed for the operation of the LOIC. Another trend, this one far more alarming that the dumbing down of their tools, is more recent and quite definitive. Yet somehow, it has escaped largely under the radar. (Good shit, J for calling peoples attention to this) Anonymous, since the inception of LulzSec, has changed the game. Where there were once undertakings like Op Libya, and Op Egypt, the targets have changed significantly. Under the influence of a select few members the targets have gone from oppressive regimes of dictators to large corporations, law enforcement,and defense contractors of democratic nations.

There is a lot of speculation about anonymouSabu and his intentions. I’m not going into that until I can find out more information. Yes, he uses the Hamas flag as his Twitter icon. Yes, he promotes extreme radicals like Beast1333. However, those are not the subject I set out to address.

Would it be possible for an organization like al-Qaeda to infiltrate a group like Anonymous and bend their actions to suit their purposes? Yes. Anwar al-Awlaki is no cave dwelling idiot, and he’s certainty more intelligent, motivated, and better financed than someone like Sabu. He was studying for his Doctorate in human relations at GWU before he left the U.S. in 2002. He understands the psychological tactics needed to sway the young and impressionable. He is also well versed in the Internet and social media, so even if he wasn’t looking at doing something like this before, he has most definitely seen the potential and vulnerability of a group like Anonymous since watching LulzSec take full advantage of it. Teenagers are prone to doing dumb things they don’t fully understand. Anyone who has raised one can tell you that. So if you’re sitting there saying the thought of a group like Anonymous unwittingly, or otherwise, working with an organization like al-Qaeda is far fetched, maybe you should think again.