Laith Alkhouri

Laith Alkhouri @MENAanalyst

#Iraq’s Hashd (PMU) online channel claims that a US logistics convoy was targeted today in Abu Ghraib area, west #Baghdad. — PolitiTweet.org

Laith Alkhouri @MENAanalyst

#QAnonCult truly believes that the show isn’t over. This is just a sample 👇🏼👇🏼 https://t.co/6WjpSgRt3K — PolitiTweet.org

Laith Alkhouri @MENAanalyst

This topic should be explored further. These were some lingering thoughts, some of which I share in my Cyberjihadism: Today and Tomorrow chapter here https://t.co/p2ypI8CZ79 20/20 — PolitiTweet.org

Laith Alkhouri @MENAanalyst

And if the person if ideologically influenced by groups like ISIS & hasn’t acted on those motivations, but has engaged in financially motivated cybercrime, how does LE tackle this scenario? Will individuals get charged w/ terrorism offenses w/o evidence of material support? 19/x — PolitiTweet.org

Laith Alkhouri @MENAanalyst

And how much collaboration do we have today between counterterrorism teams and anti-cybercrime ones? In most cases, there’s intelligence sharing when clear motivations are are known, and private sector isn't always involved. 18/x — PolitiTweet.org

Laith Alkhouri @MENAanalyst

Add to that the complications faced by law enforcement who dedicate varying resources for cybercrime vs terrorism. Where *should* they dedicate more resources? The spending on counterterrorism outweighs fighting cybercrime today. 17/x — PolitiTweet.org

Laith Alkhouri @MENAanalyst

This forces us to recalibrate our policies when it comes to terror charges & counterterrorism procedures. Motivation *is* the main thing that draws a line between the actions. When motivation is vague, it changes the policy and procedures, and certainly changes the charges. 16/x — PolitiTweet.org

Laith Alkhouri @MENAanalyst

With the wide availability of cyber tools and the illicit underground market for exploits and hacking services, we ought to continuously observe the dynamics and the motivations of cyber actors and analyze the nexus between terrorism and cybercrime. 15/x — PolitiTweet.org

Laith Alkhouri @MENAanalyst

This latter scenario isn't only at our doors but has been previously observed, and cyber jihadists have discussed it multiple times. Again, it remains one of those vague situations where charges for financial fraud carry a lesser sentence than material support for terrorism. 14/x — PolitiTweet.org

Laith Alkhouri @MENAanalyst

The illicit finances will go to advancing terrorism but the underlying motive might remain unclear, casting a shadow on the existing legal procedures. 13/x — PolitiTweet.org

Laith Alkhouri @MENAanalyst

The 3rd, we have to take into consideration financially-motivated cyber actors w/o political motives. If/when pro ISIS folks launch spamming or carding attacks, where does the policy stand in regards to charges, especially when motivation is unknown? 12/x — PolitiTweet.org

Laith Alkhouri @MENAanalyst

We're concerned w/ 3 scenarios: 1) state actors infiltrating & scapegoating non-state actors supportive of terror groups, 2) learning curve of non-state actors who try rubbing shoulders w/ hackers-for-hire (i.e. in DarkWeb) or who might purchase hacking tools, malware, etc. 11/x — PolitiTweet.org

Laith Alkhouri @MENAanalyst

Yet, it is important to highlight that with global cyber warfare, we experience sophisticated attacks largely by nation-state actors — who remain the main players in the market. Others are independent groups (i.e. Anonymous) who carry their own agendas. 10/x — PolitiTweet.org

Laith Alkhouri @MENAanalyst

Few jihadist cyber actors tried to innovate, releasing a handful of proprietary cyber tools that targeted websites (i.e. low level DDoS attacks vs Govs in the Middle East). Those are a different breed and they remain under sophisticated, but have an affinity for innovation. 9/x — PolitiTweet.org

Laith Alkhouri @MENAanalyst

Cyber actors aligned with violent jihadist terrorist groups remain under sophisticated, and the few attacks they’ve launched don’t necessarily carry a heavy charge in the court of law, except if/when they are aligned with the group’s ideology. 8/x — PolitiTweet.org

Laith Alkhouri @MENAanalyst

In the latter, these cyber actors, if and when charged, are indicted on material support, and secondarily as unlawfully using electronic means to target companies and sites. 7/x — PolitiTweet.org

Laith Alkhouri @MENAanalyst

Some of them utilized social engineering techniques to hijack social media accounts, others targeted outdated websites with unpatched vulnerabilities. 6/x — PolitiTweet.org

Laith Alkhouri @MENAanalyst

Then we entered a new chapter with tech-savvy cyber actors aligned with the likes of ISIS (i.e. Cyber Caliphate, UCC, etc) who launched actual cyber attacks — however under-sophisticated — to advance the terror group’s agenda. 5/x — PolitiTweet.org

Laith Alkhouri @MENAanalyst

What we’ve come to notice in post 9/11 era is the exploitation of cyberspace to advance the agenda of terror groups, i.e. releasing terrorist propaganda, militant manuals and the like. This expanded the definition of cyberterrorism to "attack-less" exploitation of cyberspace. 4/x — PolitiTweet.org

Laith Alkhouri @MENAanalyst

This definition is still applicable today, with politically motivated cyber actors who don’t carry out gov orders — or are scapegoated by clandestine gov agencies (i.e. Iran). 3/x — PolitiTweet.org

Laith Alkhouri @MENAanalyst

The late80s/early90s definition states that cyberterrorism is the electronic attack on systems/data bases that serves a political purpose by clandestine non-state actors. 2/x — PolitiTweet.org

Laith Alkhouri @MENAanalyst

Cyberterrorism shift in definition and why we need to be more cognizant of how it impacts counterterrorism policies and law enforcement, and importance of motive. I lay out more questions than statements. Thread 1/x — PolitiTweet.org

Laith Alkhouri @MENAanalyst

Looks like Trump has pardoned Aviem Sella -- the handler of recently-released spy Jonathan Pollard -- who was indicted for espionage 35 years ago. — PolitiTweet.org

Laith Alkhouri @MENAanalyst

Facts 👇🏼 — PolitiTweet.org

Laith Alkhouri @MENAanalyst

Here is how the Proud Boys feel about the last minute Trump pardons. Trump betrayed them, so they urge the like minded to recoil and abandon society. https://t.co/xYq27fcIds — PolitiTweet.org

Laith Alkhouri @MENAanalyst

RT @TheRaDR: Your husband separated families. Your husband took babies from their parents’ arms. Your husband is responsible for human… — PolitiTweet.org

Laith Alkhouri @MENAanalyst

When neo-Nazis help each other. FBI seizes extremist’s devices, so he warns others. Note - his Telegram channel has nearly 55k subscribers, leading to two sub-channels (English and Russian) with a combined ~24k members. https://t.co/0ZDq4Y0jqQ — PolitiTweet.org

Laith Alkhouri @MENAanalyst

Feds: U.S. Soldier Conspired to Plot Attacks on 9/11 Memorial, Maximize Lethality on Troops – NBC New York https://t.co/BeDngtHRWH — PolitiTweet.org

Laith Alkhouri @MENAanalyst

“He’s watching every show” is not exactly working. — PolitiTweet.org

Laith Alkhouri @MENAanalyst

RT @CampbellMacD: Forced to live like animals: “We just have five cinderblocks of protection, the rest is wood. The water comes from under… — PolitiTweet.org