ICT Cyber-Desk Review: Report #7

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This report covers the period of December 2013 - January 2014, The report covers two main subjets: cyber-terrorism (offensive, defensive, and the media, and the main topics of jihadist discourse); and cyber-crime, whenever and wherever it is linked to jihad (funding, methods of attack). 

The following are among the issues covered in this report:

• The technical committee of Al-Qaeda’s Al-Fajr Center for Media announced the launch of a new encrypted media program titled, “The Mujahid’s Security”, after putting considerable effort into its development.
• On December 29, 2013, a hacker group posted a propaganda video, in English, to YouTube in which it announced its intention to launch a cyber-attack against Israeli Web sites on April 14, 2014. According to the group, the attack, which it named “Op Israel Birthday”, would be part of a series of cyber-attacks in protest of Israel’s actions against the Palestinians.
• Multiple warnings were issued by the European Union regarding the bitcoin and there were even calls to ban the currency in China, which caused its value to drop.
• Online government services are developing in Middle Eastern countries, increasing the threat of cyber-attacks and requiring appropriate cyber-security assessments, such as the one that took place in Saudi Arabia with the launch of a joint national defense project for the government and private sectors.