A column which takes a second look at some of the items that have occurred in the current and recent news; an opportunity to pause and ... reflect

It’s War Jim but not as we know it
I think I have talked before about the changing nature of warfare, but that was in relation to terrorism, comparing the ‘good old days’ when two groups of men with arms used to face up to each other and whoever was left standing at the and of the day was declared the winner and went off with all the spoils. Now of course we have the terrorist, the enemy within, often armed with bombs, often aimed at softer civilian targets. The old style of war is still being fought and probably will for at least some time to come but some experts believe the wars of the future will be fought over information and knowledge. Those that have it will win the day. This war will be and currently is being fought on the internet because it is cyberwar, the struggle to gain access to another country’s secrets be they of intelligence or commercial and scientific data. For some time a number of countries ,notably the United States, have not just been warning of this but complaining that they have been and continue to be the subject of a considerable number of attacks each year. Official figures recently released in America state that Government agencies have been subjected to an estimated 1.6 billion attacks each month during last year and that the number of attacks has increased exponentially over the past 12 months. The finger has been repeatedly pointed in China’s direction for a significant part of the activity, something they have strenuously denied. Cyber attacks have led to restrictions being placed on the flow of sensitive information in the EU and NATO where it is believed that security against such attacks is nowhere near as tight and sophisticated as that surrounding British and American systems. The reason being given for that is the ‘special’ relationship’ which means that, with British and American services working closely together, the British systems have been subjected to the same rigorous cover as those Stateside.

China has invested considerably in information technology over the last twenty years, initially playing catch up but now very much a dominant force in the field. Cyber attacks can take a number of forms as we saw recently in the case of a group of hackers being caught for renting out a so called ‘zombie’ network. They can range from out and out espionage, either military or commercial, to blocking access to websites, spreading propaganda and disrupting communications that might be vital for defence or economic reasons. So much of what we do in today’s world relies heavily on the internet that an attack disabling key websites could in theory have tremendous implications for the running and economic well being of a country, and that is why the whole issue is taken so seriously by internet and military security experts. An additional concern that has been expressed by the head of the FBI is of the possibility of a terrorist group using such techniques where their style of attack is much less likely to be as subtle as another nation trying to steal secrets. Lastly there is the hacker who does it as a hobby and a thrill to demonstrate their power. I call this cyber graffiti, unlike graffiti though, such hacking can pose a real, if misdirected threat considering the sophistication of many of the hacking tools available on the web.
There have been several documented cases of cyber attack against countries’ systems, for example the attack against Estonia in 2007 and there have been rumours of software programs planted in American power distribution systems that could be activated to cause widespread disruption to the power grid. Such is the paranoia surrounding this issue that almost any threats can be believed. There are times when it seems an Orwellian future may be just round the corner, a world of increasing surveillance of its citizens and increasing security measures to protect the fragile computer systems on which our safety and economic prosperity rests, a society where wars are fought in cyberspace, inside computer networks and on monitor screens like some bizarre computer game.

No moral high ground with drugs
The economic crisis and withdrawal of credit has impacted on many companies and individuals across the world but it has also impacted one group that you might not have thought of, namely al Qaeda. Used to being bankrolled by wealthy individuals supporting jihad and the downfall as they see it of a corrupt western way of life, the group suddenly found itself with a very much reduced income and appears to have turned to dealing in drugs to fill its coffers. A group of three men in North Africa who were al Qaeda agents were arrested when they thought they were setting up a deal to allow 1,000 kgs of cocaine to pass through their territory all for the princely sum of 2,000 dollars per kilo.
However the men they were dealing with were not Colombian guerrillas as they thought but informants for the US Drug Enforcement Administration. As a result they found themselves on a plane to New York to face trial on charges of terrorism and drug involvement instead of netting a large amount of money for the extreme Islamist group.
Commentators believe that the global recession has forced the group to become involved in activities such as drug smuggling, kidnapping and extortion, activities that are certainly not approved of in the Koran. In addition to the effects of the recession, authorities, particularly in the United States have been clamping down on any assets such as bank accounts tied to al Qaeda that they can trace and any money laundering activities. The United Nations has also been key in passing a resolution that requires all member states to freeze financial assets and restrict the movements of certain identified and named individuals. All of this has forced Al Qaeda to think of new and different ways of generating a flow of funds to finance their operations. Whereas in earlier times they could claim that their sources of money were relatively clean, that seems no longer to be the case however much they might like to try to justify being involved in drugs because it helps to weaken western society. Attacking the money supply is the latest method of weakening the organisation and some officials and commentators would clam it has been extremely successful. In the beginning al Qaeda was an organisation with a strong and coordinating centre which helped fund its members. More and more nowadays there appears to be a much looser collection of groups.
Some at least have the same ideals operating under the common al Qaeda banner but having to fund their own operations in whatever way they see fit. A US treasury official said that al Qaeda is in its weakest financial state for many years and is weakened as a result but he rightly urged caution in suggesting that is the end of them. Splinter groups allaying themselves to al Qaeda in North Africa have been responsible for a number of kidnappings recently with ransom demands and it was encouraging to see the release of Spanish aid worker and hostage Alicia Gamez who along with two male colleagues was captured last November. It is ironic that not only are they complete innocents they were working to help relieve suffering and poverty in Africa. It is hard to see terrorist groups that act in this way as anything other than simple criminals just using the idea of a holy jihad as a useful excuse and umbrella to cover their despicable actions.