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Book Review: The Path To Paradise: The Inner World Of Suicide Bombers And Their Dispatchers

Avoiding Social Engineering and Phishing Attacks

The Kyoto Disagreement and the Bio-fuel Boondoggle


National Homeland Security Knowledgebase



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The Path To Paradise: The Inner World Of Suicide Bombers And Their Dispatchers
By Elliott Grollman, MAJ (ret) USAR
Praeger Security International


The Author, Anat Berko who is a LTC in the Israeli Defense Forces, also holds a Ph.D. in Criminology and is a research fellow at the International Policy Institute for Counter Terrorism. Her background, her official position and even her gender gave her unusual access to the terrorists in Israeli prisons that she interviewed for her book. This book is probably one of the best I have seen on the subject since the terrorists she interviewed either were arrested prior to getting to their targets or changed their mind prior to blowing up their targets or who were the dispatchers who sent other suicide bombers.

Radical Islamic suicide bombers believe that to commit suicide as a martyr for the sake of Allah is an honor granted by Allah and cannot be refused. Male suicide bombers are known as shaheed and female as shaheeda. However most of the terrorists Dr. Berko met with were in fact not overly religious and their original motivation for killing themselves were all over the board.

She met with dispatchers who admitted to looking for recruits who were " desperate and sad". The dispatchers related that in most cases suicide bombers are not the young, uneducated, single individuals they were in the past, nor were they religious fanatics. Neither were the dispatchers who sent them. While religion is used as part of the preparation process, the original motivation may be nationalism, revenge, hatred for the Jews, loathing for the Western world, the reward to the family of the shaheed, the hero status of the shaheed as well as personal or family reasons.

The author noted that none of the dispatchers nor their family members became suicide bombers. The reply of those she talked with was that the dispatchers had their job to do and the bombers had their job to do. It seemed that in fact the dispatchers seemed to be held in high regard in most cases. The use of propaganda and the demonization of the Jews as well as the power of the collective society over the individual's value plays a major part in the process of recruiting the bombers in their mission to sacrifice themselves for the greater good.

The author was able to conduct a very extensive interview with Sheikh Yassin; the founder of Hamas prior to his death. She also interviewed and seemed to connect with many of the female terrorists in prison as well. While the females all touted the standard jihad verbiage, they all seemed to have their own " personal" story which they seemed to share as they "connected" with Dr. Berko. In the past some terrorist groups did not condone the use of female shaheeda, however that has now changed. It is ironic that in a society where the role of women is strictly controlled, even the role they play as terrorists are equally strictly controlled. The terrorists of course have come to realize the psychological impact that female suicide bombers bring as well as the death and destruction. One of the common threads Dr. Berko finds is the issue of the terrorists' connection with their mothers and their fathers or the lack of a connection with a particular parent.

Another theme she hears is the terrorists tale of their feelings toward Jews which they discovered after dealing with the guards who apparently treat them as human beings and their lack of any real interaction with Jews prior to their incarceration. Dr. Berko wonders if they are saying this to her since they think it may be what she wants to hear. She also has the opportunity to met with some teen age terrorists as well as the parent of a shaheeda.

At the end of the day, the issue is a complex one however whatever the individual motivation maybe, the collective justification is the same and too many radical Islamic groups condone the acts and not enough moderate Islamic groups or religious figures condemn the acts. As long as individuals believe that acts of terrorism will be rewarded by going to paradise, being absolved of all their sins, a free pass to heaven for their family and 72 virgins awaiting their needs; suicide bombing will continue to be a serious problem. For those dealing with terrorism this book is a must read.
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US_CERT

Avoiding Social Engineering and Phishing Attacks


Do not give sensitive information to anyone unless you are sure that they are indeed who they claim to be and that they should have access to the information.

What is a social engineering attack?

To launch a social engineering attack, an attacker uses human interaction (social skills) to obtain or compromise information about an organization or its computer systems. An attacker may seem unassuming and respectable, possibly claiming to be a new employee, repair person, or researcher and even offering credentials to support that identity. However, by asking questions, he or she may be able to piece together enough information to infiltrate an organization's network. If an attacker is not able to gather enough information from one source, he or she may contact another source within the same organization and rely on the information from the first source to add to his or her credibility.

What is a phishing attack?

Phishing is a form of social engineering. Phishing attacks use email or malicious web sites to solicit personal, often financial, information. Attackers may send email seemingly from a reputable credit card company or financial institution that requests account information, often suggesting that there is a problem. When users respond with the requested information, attackers can use it to gain access to the accounts.

How do you avoid being a victim?

  • Be suspicious of unsolicited phone calls, visits, or email messages from individuals asking about employees or other internal information. If an unknown individual claims to be from a legitimate organization, try to verify his or her identity directly with the company.
  • Do not provide personal information or information about your organization, including its structure or networks, unless you are certain of a person's authority to have the information.
  • Do not reveal personal or financial information in email, and do not respond to email solicitations for this information. This includes following links sent in email.
  • Don't send sensitive information over the Internet before checking a web site's security policy or looking for evidence that the information is being encrypted.
  • Pay attention to the URL of a web site. Malicious web sites may look identical to a legitimate site, but the URL may use a variation in spelling or a different domain (e.g., .com vs. .net).
  • If you are unsure whether an email request is legitimate, try to verify it by contacting the company directly. Do not use contact information provided on a web site connected to the request; instead, check previous statements for contact information. Information about known phishing attacks is also available online from groups such as the Anti-Phishing Working Group.
  • Install and maintain anti-virus software, firewalls, and email filters to reduce some of this traffic.

What do you do if you think you are a victim?

  • If you believe you might have revealed sensitive information about your organization, report it to the appropriate people within the organization, including network administrators. They can be alert for any suspicious or unusual activity.
  • If you believe your financial accounts may be compromised, contact your financial institution immediately and close any accounts that may have been compromised. Watch for any unexplainable charges to your account.
  • Consider reporting the attack to the police, and file a report with the Federal Trade Commission.
_________________________________________________________________

Both the National Cyber Security Alliance and US-CERT have identified this topic as one of the top tips for home users.
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Authors: Mindi McDowell
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Courtesy of US-CERT, a government organization.


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The Kyoto Disagreement and the Bio-fuel Boondoggle
By Peter B. Martin


The United States has been trashed by the media and the ecologists for not partaking in the Kyoto protocol. This paper will delve into Kyoto to see if the US was justified in not signing the treaty, and will also look into the bio-fuel controversy.

The American Thinker website conducted a survey that was a surprising revelation: Over the seven years since the signing of the Kyoto agreement the carbon emissions from the countries that signed it rose 21.1%, while on the other hand, those that didn't sign it had only a rise of 10% and the US distinguished itself with a rise of only 6.6%. One can only wonder what Al Gore and the Green brigade makes of these statistics, and about the deafening silence from the media?

Those that signed Kyoto are finding it impossible to complying with its provisions and it is costing them vast amounts of money for no tangible returns to speak of. Since February 2005 it has cost roughly $440 billion. Research by the International Council for Capital Formation (ICCF) reveals that if the European countries meet their intended Kyoto objectives on emissions by 2010 they can expect a rise in electricity averaging 26% and 41% for natural gas prices. Significant job losses would also occur, estimated to be at least 200,000 in the UK, Italy and Germany with Spain reaching over 600,000. The economy of these countries would be appreciably damaged. For instance, it would cost Germany: 18.5 billion euros, the UK: 22 billion euros, Spain: 26 billion euros, Italy: 27 billion euros.

There is virtually no way Europe can comply with the projected provisions, especially with a recession looming ahead. Kyoto is doomed; it is time to face up to it. The whole exercise will have been an unconscionable political waste of financial resources. It staggers the mind trying to comprehend how Al Gore got a Nobel Prize for such a debacle. It was all hypo-hypotheses and pseudo-science based on conjecture. (If Gore wants to really begin to cut CO2 emissions he should stop exhaling).

An example of the environmentalists' selective scientific method, and one of the eco-alarmists' favorite perils, is the glaciers. They are incessantly resolute in declaring that glaciers are receding at an unprecedented rate, yet they ignore that fact that some glaciers are in effect advancing. Conversely, climatologist Patrick Michaels drew attention to the fact that the glaciers in Alaska's Glacier Bay National Park have been receding since the 19th century – long before greenhouse gas emissions were newsworthy and well before the global warming era. Furthermore, the review "Science" noted last year that one of the largest glaciers in Greenland has suddenly slowed its rate of melting, and in another glacier there was "some apparent thickening in areas on the main trunk." Essentially, no one really knows the ultimate dynamics of glacier expansion and decline, it entails some very intricate physics; it is known that just warming air temperature isn't enough to achieve it. As for warming air temperatures, recently released new studies have established that all the planets in our solar system are showing the same rate of warming as Earth, adding to the evidence that the sun is responsible for our present warming trend.

Another knee-jerk reaction to an arrogated crisis is the ethanol delusion. The game plan was to plant more maize than ever before to make ethanol to reduce America's dependence on foreign oil. It sounds good until you delve into the fine points, do the addition and discover the downside.

The farmer needs a lot of fertilizer to grow the crop and that is made from petroleum. Then he has to keep the weeds under control with an herbicide, which (you guessed it) is made from petrol products. He needs a tractor that runs on diesel and he has to transport the maize by truck that also runs on diesel. The maize needs to be converted into fuel and that takes even more energy. As a result, this so-called alternative energy ends up being surprisingly un-ecological when you add up the figures. Experts estimate it takes approximately 1.3 gallons of oil to produce one gallon of ethanol. The amount of land required and the bushels of grain it takes to yield enough ethanol to make any meaningful difference on America's imports would lead to scarce food and escalating prices all the way down the food chain. Already, the big demand for bio-fuels has created acrimonious disputes and disorder over the quandary of whether to use the land for food or for fuel – and face higher food prices in the markets.

It gets wackier. Government subsidies have already over stimulated the growth of maize; production of maize is near an all time high leading to a glut in the ethanol market. There are about 135 ethanol plants across the country consuming roughly 15% of the maize production with the price of foodstuff augmenting accordingly. The amount of energy and money being put into this alternative fuel experiment is proving uneconomical, un-ecological, and a waste of resources that could be put into a more promising technique; even so, politicians and environmentalists react to any such line of reasoning with downright suspicion and impulsive paralysis.

And ecologists don't seem to want to recognize that economic growth is as vital to environmental advancement as energy is to economic growth. They don't seem to notice that their Kyoto whale is beached and the bio-fuel albatross can't take off anymore. Although their efforts to correct things that have gone wrong in our environment were well meaning, mistakes have been made that need to be rapidly addressed.
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