Naval Postgraduate School

Cyber-herding: Exploiting Islamic Extremists Use of the Internet Naval Postgraduate School

Publisher Marketing: On November 28, 2006, the Al-Fajr Information Center released the first issue of the Technical Mujahid Magazine. The purpose of the online magazine is to help prevent aggressive acts against Muslims in cyberspace and to assist the mujahid in their efforts. A mujahid is a Muslim fighting in a war or involved in any other struggle. The magazine proclaims that the Internet provides a golden opportunity for the mujahid to break the Western media control over information. The magazine also recognizes that the internet could represent a vulnerability to the mujahid and suggests security measures for the mujahid to follow. The magazine is correct when they say this is a golden opportunity for the mujahid. The internet provides Islamic extremists an excellent medium to spread their ideas to billions of people, and over the years, the extremists have steadily made a greater presence on the information superhighway. As an example, Gabriel Weimann states that from 1998 to the present, "the number of terrorists' websites has grown from less than 30 to more than 4,300." Islamic extremists have used these websites for recruitment, fundraising, coordination, training, propaganda, and a whole host of different activities.