How easy is it...?

inshaala · #1 (**permalink**) 12-07-2006, 12:47 AM

... to find information on cookbooks? and how "good" are they?

Ok i am writing a dissertation on terrorist uses of the internet and obviously one of the uses is knowledge acquisition. Whilst they might themselves post information on tactics etc most probably through email, i was wondering if you guys could direct me or inform me of what sort of information is out there.
Obviously this site is a source of such information but can anyone tell me in an overview: realistically how potentially dangerous/destructive is the material available?
Web site links would be welcome (i will need to reference in my dissertation).

Thanks for any help

Random · #2 (**permalink**) 12-07-2006, 09:12 AM

Did the terrorists who flew planes into the World Trade Centre learn how to fly from a half page tutorial on the internet? I think not.

Anyone who has half a clue what they're doing in that field, learns the best way - if you're referring to how terroritsts design and build bombs, they generally have a good understanding of physics and chemistry, so that they know what happens and why it happens, and they can use it to their advantage, instead of just hoping something they found in a web-based text file will work.

I personally wouldn't trust anything in an online "cookbook" outright. I'd sooner expect anything in them to hurt the cooks sooner than they would do anything intentional.

Beyond · #3 (**permalink**) 12-07-2006, 09:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Random

Anyone who has half a clue what they're doing in that field, learns the best way - if you're referring to how terroritsts design and build bombs, they generally have a good understanding of physics and chemistry, so that they know what happens and why it happens, and they can use it to their advantage, instead of just hoping something they found in a web-based text file will work.

Lol, wrong.

http://www.usip.org/pubs/specialreports/sr116.html

Quote:

This kind of information is sought out not just by sophisticated terrorist organizations but also by disaffected individuals prepared to use terrorist tactics to advance their idiosyncratic agendas. In 1999, for instance, a young man by the name of David Copeland planted nail bombs in three different areas of London: multiracial Brixton, the largely Bangladeshi community of Brick Lane, and the gay quarter in Soho. Over the course of three weeks, he killed 3 people and injured 139. At his trial, he revealed that he had learned his deadly techniques from the Internet, downloading The Terrorist's Handbook and How to Make Bombs: Book Two. Both titles are still easily accessible.

http://www.fas.org/irp/congress/1996_cr/s960416g.htm

-inefficiency- · #4 (**permalink**) 12-07-2006, 12:44 PM

http://www.anarchistcookbookz.com/

Read this site, it pretty much sums up supposed "cookbooks"

Also, this thread is being moved to Availability of information, as it seems it would be more appropriate there - and that section is lacking in posts as it is.

inshaala · #5 (**permalink**) 12-07-2006, 09:49 PM

random - bad example because you cant really test fly something without real world training let alone test a flight into a building, but you can tests home made explosives made with knowledge gained online... and from what i have read so far (offline) there seems to be a lot more information online about how to do things right - i'm not refering to jolly roger and the like here...

inefficiency - funny you should quote that site -because that is where i came from to find this forum

Beyond - thanks for the links, Gabriel Weimann is the king in this field for me

Just wrote/writing my chapter on terrorist websites, there are apparently training videos knocking around showing how to make a suicide bombers explosive vest. Hezbollah made it a while back but some Sunni extemist posted it online in the hope it would help the insurgents in iraq "avenge the abuses inflicted on their women in abu ghraib".

Beyond · #6 (**permalink**) 12-07-2006, 10:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by inshaala

Beyond - thanks for the links, Gabriel Weimann is the king in this field for me

Glad to help. Good luck with your research and if you ever have questions, don't hesitate to ask around here.

Aphix · #7 (**permalink**) 12-11-2006, 02:53 AM

I thought we were beyond Anarchist Cookbook comments. Just stop it. Make it an autoban keyword or something.

EDIT: Note sarcasm on the last sentence, perhaps it wasn't taken as intended.

Beyond · #8 (**permalink**) 12-11-2006, 02:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aphix

I thought we were beyond Anarchist Cookbook comments. Just stop it. Make it an autoban keyword or something.

You're not in a position to comment on the Anarchist Cookbook in regards to banning it from this site.

Syrus · #9 (**permalink**) 12-11-2006, 12:54 PM

and neither are you beyond because you are not a mod...

Beyond · #10 (**permalink**) 12-11-2006, 01:07 PM

I was a moderator and have since been asked to return but I have declined, FYI. Just because I don't carry the tag doesn't mean I can't speak from experience of being one. Suck it, Syrus.

Syrus · #11 (**permalink**) 12-11-2006, 06:28 PM

sorry beyond, i acutially have some balls (and more common sence than your entire family combined, come on, they let you live). But since you seem to like sucking things i should prob warn you theres a guy going round atm killing people in "your profession".

headcase · #12 (**permalink**) 12-11-2006, 07:25 PM

Moderators? Shit I better lie low for a while.

Oh, the prostitutes. He's from Atlanta, he wouldn't get it.

inshaala · #13 (**permalink**) 12-13-2006, 03:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aphix

I thought we were beyond Anarchist Cookbook comments. Just stop it. Make it an autoban keyword or something.

EDIT: Note sarcasm on the last sentence, perhaps it wasn't taken as intended.

It was a legitimate question and catered for the conviction - which i am guessing you hold - that "cookbooks" are not worth the paper they are printed on (after downloading).
But yeah - thanks for the constructive input

Anyway - dissertation is due in a few hours, pretty much finished it. I might get it in a .pdf file and post it on my personal website if you guys are interested in reading it - the working title is "A Critical Analysis of Terrorist use of the Internet" - it's like 40 pages long but my mum and girlfriend enjoyed reading it

. (this site is referenced in the work btw

)

Syrus · #14 (**permalink**) 12-13-2006, 12:42 PM

If your looking for a useful resource i recomend Scientific Principles of Improvised Warfare and Home Defense

headcase · #15 (**permalink**) 12-13-2006, 01:11 PM

Just a sidenote. There's a rumour that the Jolly Roger verison of the ACB was released by the feds to kill off potential terrorists. While that's as unlikely as it is retarded, worth mentioning. It gives a picture of how bad it actually is.

ZX980 · #16 (**permalink**) 08-08-2007, 04:55 AM

the jolly roger version of the ACB was basically a bunch of bullshit about how to get free phone service. the only article i actually like was 75. Mentors Last Words. everything else was total crap. and to add to the unlikely factor that the feds published it, if they were trying to catch actual terrorists, they would have put some useful information in it, unless the next major terrorist takeover has been planned by exploiting our phone lines