The World Wide Web, more commonly known as the ‘web’ is a subsection of the Internet comprising of the pages that can be accessed by a browser. Despite common misconception, the term ‘internet’ is not interchangeable with web. The internet refers to the global network of servers that makes the information sharing that happens over the web possible. The web itself can be divided into three distinct layers: the surface, deep and dark web. Terrorist organizations’ exploitation of these layers has transformed the concept of warfare. The cyber domain now joins the Australian Government’s operational environment consisting of land, air, sea and space. This brings to the table a new opportunity for terrorist organizations to communicate, spread propaganda, train, finance, plan, and execute future actions. Simultaneously, monitoring the web provides governments and militaries with new ways of collecting and processing information to mitigate such activities in the war against terror. This paper focuses on how each component of the web is used by terrorist organizations and proposes a practical strategy for governments and militaries to combat this new battlespace.
Contrasting the Surface, Deep and Dark Web
The web is commonly analogous to an iceberg. The tip, being the most visible and accessible layer of the iceberg is referred to as the surface web. Below lays the deep web, which is not indexed by search engines and access requires searching a database or filling out forms to secure specific content. Lastly there lies the dark web, which is often purposefully hidden.
The surface web includes material that is easily accessible using search engines. In order to constitute part of the surface web, a webpage must be indexed and therefore accessible via a search engine. Anything that can be found through the use of traditional search engines is defined as belonging to the surface web and conversely these search engines are not able to be used to access material on the deep web.
The deep web comprises of a vast section of the web that is not indexed by search engines however is accessible through alternate channels and does not require special software. The deep web consists of many common uses including online banking, mail and subscription-based services such as video on demand.
The dark web refers to content that can only be accessed by specialized browsers, such as The onion router (Tor) or I2P (Invisible internet Project). Tor is a technology that was developed by the US Navy and bounces internet users’ traffic through relays which are run by thousands of volunteers around the planet. Tor technology makes it comparatively difficult to identify the source of the website or the specific location of the user. It is estimated that 57% of the dark web consists of illegal content such as weapon trafficking, pornography, illicit finances and terrorist communication. Terrorist activity does not occur exclusively within the dark web however and in fact is prevalent among each of the layers.
Use of the Web by Terrorists and the Military
Surface Web Use
Terrorist have communicated via various online platforms since the late 1990s. This has included the surface web, utilizing public blogs to influence the wider populations to their ideologies and plan engagements. Terrorists utilize the surface web to recruit sympathizers, providing religious commentaries to legitimize their actions. Through the use of the surface web, the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) is able to send its messages in 28 different languages around the world, highlighting their cyber presence. The surface web is home to online manuals detailing how to build explosive and chemical weapons. Instructional material also includes strategies to conduct counter-intelligence and hacking activities. Online platforms within the surface web such as chatrooms and social media sites are also used for online terrorist training programs and to instruct sympathizers how to access the deeper layers of the web.
The use of the surface web is a double-edged sword as its content can be monitored, tracked and removed. The ‘Wikipedia of Terror’, which is the home of various terrorist instructions, manuals and guidebooks has been monitored and tampered with, exposing the vulnerability of posting material on the surface web. As monitoring by counter-terrorism agencies and government bodies has increased, anonymity-seeking terrorists have flocked to the deep and dark web.
Deep Web Use
The deep web compromises of a range of communication platforms such as social media, end-to-end encryption applications and a means of financial transactions. The protected nature of these platforms, through passwords and membership registrations, enables the dissemination of propaganda, recruitment, training, networking, fundraising and ultimately the organization of terrorist action. The anonymity afforded by the deep web results in it being a useful tool for terrorists and difficult for militaries or governments to restrict. The deep web is a fine balance between anonymity whilst maintaining widespread reach to potential sympathizers over avenues such as social media. The deep web is more accessible than the dark web allowing terrorist organizations to create concrete bonds with sympathizers from a virtual safe haven.
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Whilst more secluded that the surface web, the deep web is not entirely anonymous, and content and its associated activity is regularly monitored by government bodies. Perhaps the most high-profile government agency intervention in the deep web was the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI’s) shut down of the famous online black market ‘Silk Road’. Government intervention within the deep web has forced anonymity seeking terrorists and their sympathizes to flock to the dark web.
Dark Web Use
Utilizing the dark web sacrifices the widespread reach afforded by the surface and deep web, however it affords unparalleled anonymity. Terrorists recruit sympathizes to the dark web through the use of end-to-end encryption applications. Once sympathizes have been directed onto the dark web, terrorist organizations are able to provide them with access to illegal content. The dark web is utilized as the financial backbone of terrorist organizations through the use of cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin, as well as purchasing illegal weapons. The dark web is where terrorists store their illegal propaganda under the safety of encrypted applications. ‘Telegram’ has become the preferred application for terrorist use on the dark web and by 2016 ISIS had over 700 channels with one channel alone hosting over 10,000 members.
ISIS and other terrorist organizations such as the United Cyber Caliphate (UCC) constantly recruit new followers into the dark web and provide advice as to how not be detected and conduct terror operations. Such action has included creating a video which threatened the US President Donald Trump amongst a further 8,786 names and their associated addresses. The ‘kill list’ commanded ISIS followers to “kill them wherever you find them”. Further terrorist use of the dark web includes the UCC creating a PDF copy of ‘the Anarchist Cookbook’, a manual on bomb making, the use of firearms and constructing traps.
It is important to note that the dark web is not completely ‘evil’ and in fact it provides an important avenue for whistle blowers to disclose information. The dark web also allows governments the ability to gather information on terrorist activity and uncover patterns in behavior in order to prevent terrorist actions from eventuating whilst they are still in the planning process.
The constantly evolving and advanced sophistication of terrorists’ use of the dark web calls for the development of new methods to track, analyze and prevent terrorist use of the dark web. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is responsible for the development of emerging technologies for use by the military in the United States. DARPA introduced the ‘MEMEX program’ which aims at developing technology that can be used to search and track illegal activity on the deep and dark webs. Whilst the MEMEX program was initially designed to combat human trafficking, the principles can be used to counter terrorism within the dark web. Further, the National Security Agency (NSA) uses source code that can tag particular patterns of behavior for further investigation. The NSA is constantly surveying the servers that run Tor, unearthing the identity of millions of its users in pursuit of prosecution.
The Australian Government has responded to the growing cyber domain threat through the establishment of an Information Warfare Division in 2017. Further, the Australian Strategic Policy Institute has a growing offensive cyber capability. The Defense and Science Technology Group has a sophisticated cyberwarfare operations division and the Australian Defense force has received significant funding to create cyber security ‘SPRINT teams’ in order to further enhance its cyber capability. Despite the significant investment in Australia’s cyber capability, its strategies are typically reactive rather than proactive.
Recommendations
One of the greatest challenges facing governments and militaries alike is how to deal with the newest facet of warfare, the cyber domain. The current legal framework surrounding terrorist use of the web is inconclusive and unable to adequately address the threats posed by the evolving and widespread nature of the web. The head of NSA, Mike Rogers emphasized that the key is to “find a solution to deal with this issue that would give the government more power of access but will not be so invasive that it would not sit comfortably with innocent civilians”. The United Nations plays an important role in this respect, facilitating ‘good practice’ amongst Member States in combating terrorists use of the web.
The cyber domain is extremely complicated and non-conventional. Governments and their associated militaries cannot simply ‘destroy’ or delete terrorist content permanently as the content would reappear on a different page of the web. Whilst a conventional ‘total victory’ is unrealistic within the cyber realm, governments can further mitigate terrorist organizations’ use of the web by removing the links from the surface to the deep and dark web, making the content increasingly difficult to access. By constantly flagging and deleting terrorist material such as guides to either use the dark web or conduct illegal activity on the surface and deep web, less and less potential recruits will be able to access such material. Limiting the amount of potential terrorist sympathizers gaining access to extremist propaganda and training material is extremely important in the fight against terror. Government agencies and their associated military cyber branches have the opportunity to underpin terrorist organizations growth and funding by quickly deleting content as it appears on the surface and deep web. Reducing the amount of terrorist content on the more accessible regions of the web limits terrorist organizations’ ability to recruit, fund, train and plan offensive action. Further, by ‘fingerprinting’ users based on their online behavior, government agencies can conduct deep packet inspections allowing them to examine data packages sent across the net such as their email communications and browsing history. This strategy would begin to transform the defense of terrorists in the cyber realm from reactive to proactive. As more information is gathered and patterns observed, governments and their militaries can develop and employ further techniques to implement and sustain offensive cyber campaigns.
Conclusion
Terrorists utilize all levels of the web in various ways to recruit, fund and undertake offensive actions. The nature of online content means that governments cannot simply delete and destroy content on the web permanently. Governments and militaries must further develop technologies through programs such as MEMEX to search and track illegal activity on the deep and dark webs more efficiently. Through greater detection ability, terrorist content can be quickly flagged and removed, resulting in terrorist exclusively operating in the ‘darkest’ depths of the dark web. Such constraint limits the ability of potential recruits to access terrorist content, which in turn would restrict their funding, support, growth and ability to conduct kinetic actions.
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