Terror on the Internet

Description:

Terrorists fight their wars in cyberspace as well as on the ground. However, while politicians and the media have hotly debated the dangers of terrorists sabotaging the Internet, surprisingly little is known about terrorists’ actual use of the Internet.

In this timely and eye-opening volume, Gabriel Weimann reveals that terrorist organizations and their supporters maintain hundreds of websites, taking advantage of the unregulated, anonymous, and accessible nature of the Internet to target an array of messages to diverse audiences. Drawing on a seven-year study of the World Wide Web, the author examines how modern terrorist organizations exploit the Internet to raise funds, recruit members, plan and launch attacks, and publicize their chilling results. Weimann also investigates the effectiveness of counterterrorism measures and warns that this cyberwar may cost us dearly in terms of civil rights.

Illustrated with numerous examples taken from terrorist websites, Terror on the Internet offers the definitive introduction to this emerging and dynamic arena. Weimann lays bare the challenges we collectively face in confronting the growing and increasingly sophisticated terrorist presence on the Net. A publication of the United States Institute of Peace, distributed by Potomac Books, Inc.

Reviews/Endorsements:

"Many books published on terrorism aspire to be described as 'cutting edge' or 'must read.' Terror on the Internet unquestionably has earned these accolades. Indeed, it is destined to become the seminal work on this subject."
-- Bruce Hoffman, author of Inside Terrorism

"Gabriel Weimann has authored the definitive text on terrorist use of the Internet."
-- Rohan Gunaratna, author of Inside Al Qaeda: Global Network of Terror

"Read this book to understand the future of terrorism! In this cutting-edge analysis, Weimann explains the new psychology of the terrorists and how they use the Internet for their goals."
-- Marc Sageman, author of Understanding Terror Networks

"This volume is an indispensable resource for academic analysts and counterterrorist organizations in understanding how to track and overcome such operations in these virtual spaces."
-- Josua Sinai, Logos Technologies

"Gabriel Weimann, a professor of communications at the University of Haifa in Israel, is one of a handful of people who began tracking terrorist Web sites almost a decade ago, long before most analysts were aware of the problem. Terror on the Internet usefully outlines the basic contours of his subject, giving a taste of Al Qaeda's Internet rehetoric and strategies, along with those of less well-known militant groups from Colombia to the Basque country to Chechnya. . . . Weimann is persusasive on the Internet's role in spreading terrorist goals and methods."
-- New York Times Book Review