THE IMPORTANCE OF OPSEC.

Subject: THE IMPORTANCE OF OPSEC. 12/17/2008, 21:24

Think it's not important? Guess again.

Quote :: http://inhomelandsecurity.com/2008/02/al_qaeda_is_eyeing_myspace_fac.html

Al Qaeda is Eyeing MySpace, Facebook, Friends Reunited, PalTalk
By Shelley Smith

Great Britain’s Security Service MI5 requested its British troops to remove personal details of themselves off popular social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace and Friends Reunited due to discovering that they were being monitored by Al-Qaeda operatives. In the January, 2008 Free Republic article, ‘Al-Qaeda eyes MySpace Pages’, Gordon Thomas writes about the concern expressed by the MI5 chief Jonathan Evans in a document titled ‘Personal Security’. Evans asks for security service personnel to be aware of the monitoring and gathering of personal details that can be formed into intelligence used to launch terrorist attacks against their colleagues, or family members.

Though access to many of these social websites may be for members only, all one needs to register is an e-mail address. Al-Qaeda operatives are using hundreds of false accounts to access personal information. And what are they finding?

Thousands of military and security personnel who have posted detailed information about themselves, their careers, personal pictures and family members, date of birth, locations of where they are living, photos of colleagues and weapons.

In the United States Islamic extremists are utilizing technology. Radical Muslims are attempting to bring Islamic religious law into the United States and had murdered a New Jersey man and his family. Others have been victims by operatives systematically tracking individuals through PalTalk.com and other websites. An individual who lives overseas had his computer hacked to obtain his photograph, his real name and the city where he lives, while other individuals are having their personal information being exchanged through extremist websites in order to facilitate harm. With this new wave of activities it is important to maintain OPSEC.

The U.S. Department of Energy, Computer Incident Advisory Capability (CIAC), who conducts Cyber Security programs, has posted the latest Vulnerability Bulletins to share with U.S. interagency personnel.

Quote :: Prosecution: Leaked info matched ship moves

NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Prosecutors at the federal trial of a former sailor on terrorism charges tried to show Thursday that a stop by his ship in Hawaii matched details of ship movements that he allegedly leaked to terrorism supporters.
Hassan Abu-Jihaad, 32, of Phoenix, has pleaded not guilty to federal charges alleging he provided material support to terrorists and disclosed classified national defense information.
If convicted, he faces up to 25 years in prison.
Abu-Jihaad, an American-born Muslim convert formerly known as Paul R. Hall, is accused of leaking information that could have doomed his own ship. He was a Navy signalman and received an honorable discharge in 2002.
He is accused of passing along details that included the makeup of his Navy battle group, its planned movements and a drawing of the group’s formation when it was to pass through the Straits of Hormuz on April 29, 2001.
Files found on a computer disk recovered by authorities from an alleged terror supporter’s home also included the number and type of personnel on each ship and the ships’ capabilities and ended with instructions to destroy the message, according to testimony.
Adam Conaway, a Navy quartermaster, testified Thursday that Abu-Jihaad’s ship, the guided-missile destroyer USS Benfold, stopped in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, for ammunition on March 20, 2001.
One of the leaked documents recovered by authorities indicated that some ships would load Tomahawk missiles on that date.
On cross-examination, Abu-Jihaad’s attorneys pointed out that the leaked document referred only to some ships and did not specifically mention the USS Benfold.
Prosecutors rebutted that by asking Conaway to confirm that the Benfold was the only ship from the battle group that stopped in Hawaii that day.
Conaway also highlighted the dangers the battle group faced going through the Strait of Hormuz, a busy narrow Persian Gulf waterway where they were frequently challenged by Iranian officials.
He said sailors were in a heightened state of readiness, manning machine guns and closing hatches as a preventative measure in case the ship was damaged. Before the ships entered the strait, a team prepared to defend the ship conducted a drill, he said.
The defense, meanwhile, continued to press a first point raised Wednesday, saying some ships from the battle group passed through the Strait of Hormuz on May 2, 2001, and others on May 3. The leaked documents indicated they would pass through the strait on April 29.
A retired admiral testified Wednesday that the plan did call for passing into another area on April 29 that is sometimes confused with the Strait of Hormuz.
Prosecutors acknowledge that they don’t have direct proof that Abu-Jihaad leaked details of ship movements.
Abu-Jihaad was charged in the same case that led to the 2004 arrest of Babar Ahmad, a British computer specialist accused of running Web sites to raise money, appeal for fighters and provide equipment such as gas masks and night vision goggles for terrorists. Ahmad is to be extradited to the U.S.
Abu-Jihaad is being prosecuted in New Haven because the federal investigation first focused on a Connecticut-based Internet service provider.

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