According to the wall street journal Insurgents in Iraq have hacked the predator drones being used there and in afganistan to intercept the video feed of where they are. The best part about this hack: they achieved it using $26 off the shelf software. From the article:

Senior defense and intelligence officials said Iranian-backed insurgents intercepted the video feeds by taking advantage of an unprotected communications link in some of the remotely flown planes' systems. Shiite fighters in Iraq used software programs such as SkyGrabber -- available for as little as $25.95 on the Internet -- to regularly capture drone video feeds, according to a person familiar with reports on the matter.
U.S. officials say there is no evidence that militants were able to take control of the drones or otherwise interfere with their flights. Still, the intercepts could give America's enemies battlefield advantages by removing the element of surprise from certain missions and making it easier for insurgents to determine which roads and buildings are under U.S. surveillance.

Somehow, I doubt they actually paid for the software.

Once again, we see how little they really understand... from http://colorado.indymedia.org/node/1757 Counter-Terrorism Magazine's most recent issue, has on it's cover (ironically), a picture of a protestor in a “V/Guy Fawkes” mask......and the title of their featured article reads, “Twitter.com and Coordinated Mayhem: An Examination of the Incorporation of Twitter by the RNC Welcoming Committee”. Below is a short sample: “There are myriads of threats that jeopardize peace and stability. Among these threats, the proliferation of extremism is a peril to civilized society. These extremist include, but are not limited to the following: religious, anarchists, anti-government, and anti-globalization. They operate both in the United States and abroad. Advances in technology and media have enabled extremists to broadcast their propaganda to an untold audience. These provocative messages have enticed a vulnerable following into discontent and action. Consider the riots that occurred during World Trade Organization meetings in Seattle, the Rwandan Genocide, and the recent rioting in Greece. Instability is increasing with the compounding of the economic crisis. The reality is that there are countless people being incited to violence and extremism through media” A longer sample of the article can be found here: http://www.iacsp.com/latest_article.php picture of the cover: http://www.iacsp.com/publications.php FULL PDF of article linked below written by Institute of Terrorism Research and Response published by the IACSP http://www.terrorresponse.org/generator/downloads/Social_Networking_Site...

Wikileaks has released a document that has listed in it the ways "eco-terrorists" thwart law enforcement.

Activists are urged to follow a “need-to-know” rule in which detailed information regarding planned direct actions is compartmentalized and restricted to the individuals involved in the action. Activists are advised that when an individual within the group expresses reservations about a specific direct action, that individual should be removed from the direct action cell. This removal should be done gradually without destroying personal bonds to the individual, thereby reducing the individual’s incentive to retaliate by cooperating with law enforcement authorities.

Download the report Here

Also the hackbloc server has been on the fritz after I (stupidly) rm-rf /*-ed it We will be back at 100% hopefully by the weekend, sorry for any inconvience.

DAN GROSS: Evil Twin Booking, a West Philly-based talent agency, has been inundated with e-mails and phone calls related to its representation of former Weather Underground radical Bill Ayers. Gov. Sarah Palin has recently ramped up criticism of Sen. Barack Obama’s ties to Ayers, who, along with his wife, Bernardine Dohrn, and other members of the radical group bombed various government buildings in the ’70s. Obama and Ayers, now a University of Illinois professor, served on a nonprofit foundation’s board together and Ayers once hosted a party for Obama. We’re told that Evil Twin Booking/Lost Film Fest partners Scott Beibin and Liz Cole have received more than 1,000 e-mails and tons of calls in recent days with everything from interview requests to attack letters accusing the pair of aiding and abetting terrorists. Evil Twin books speaking engagements with Ayers, his wife and several other Weather Underground members and others including actor Ed Begley Jr., authors and filmmakers. MORE

EVIL TWIN RESPONDS: “I can only speak for Evil Twin Booking when I say: This is a lame attempt by Sarah Palin to distract from the issue of the economy. I think people across the board see right through this subterfuge, with the exception of the burning-crosses-and-Judy-Blume-books crowd. People seem to have wised up a bit and have learned from the deceptions of the Bush years. A particular quote comes to mind from George W. Bush, ‘Fool me once shame on you, fool me — umm — err — uh — can’t get fooled again’.” — Scott Beibin, Co-Founder, Evil Twin Booking Agency

DISTRACTED GLOBE: The Weathermen trained themselves to use guns and explosives, but were unable to decide how far they should go. A collective in New York led by Terry Robbins plotted to set off a bomb at a non-commissioned officer’s ball at Fort Dix. A short circuit in the wiring exploded the bomb prematurely, killing three members of the group and destroying their townhouse on West 11th Street. The FBI started taking the Weathermen seriously, and its members fled underground. The group reached the conclusion that they had made an error in New York. They would not unleash indiscriminate violence against the people. From that point forward, they took measures to make sure no one was hurt in their bombings. The Weathermen bombed the State Corrections Department in San Francisco. They bombed the National Guard headquarters, and the U.S. Capitol. They broke Timothy Leary out of prison and spirited him to Algeria. For a moment in time, the Weather Underground had their finger on the pulse of the growing counter culture. MORE

WIKIPEDIA: “We petitioned, we demonstrated, we sat in. I was willing to get hit over the head, I did; I was willing to go to prison, I did. To me, it was a question of what had to be done to stop the much greater violence that was going on.” —David Gilbert[9]

HOT DOCUMENT: Examples Of The Kind Of Bill Ayers Fan Mail Evil Twin Has Received*

“To the IGNORENT people who it concerns

I know the connection between you people, William Ayers, The Weather underground, your public allies, and Obamas stance on the 2nd Amendment. I searched the internet and see who your connnected to And I KNOW!! Have you ever heard of google? THE JIG IS UP AND YOUR SECRET IS OUT!!! Your not fooling anyone hiding behind the mask of “entertainment for people who think and act:. It doesnt fool anyone and no one cares either about your radicals and their babble. I researched the others and know how you are all connected and will tell the world.

I’m sure you only dare to send Ayers to a college because they are the ones that will accept UNAMERICAN professors teaching thier swill to thier liberal sheep students!!! You’d never get away with sending Ayers to my town spreading lies about America and promoting terror. Not going to happen. Sorry! If you did youd be run out of here so quick your head will spin like the exersists. We’ll believe and achieve in this country just fine without you. get a brain. get some common sense!!

Ayers isnt the worst either. You know Obama has been endorsed by Hezbollah, Qadaffi, The taliban, Alkida, Chavez, Castro and Chosun Sinbo. Why don’t you add them to your business too and see how far you get. The people you choose as friends and Allies says a lot about your character, judgement, and philosophy. You people are SCUMBAGS and so are the people who support you.

I’m sure Its too much to ask that your people stop the lies, slander & smears about McCain/Palin too but I doubt it, AMERICA IS NUMBER ONE AND YOU KNOW IT DIRTBAGS!!! TAKE SOME SHOWERS YOU HIPPIE RADACALS!!! IM SURE YOU NEED IT BECAUSE YOU ALL STINK TO HELL!!!!

JIM T.
-A PROUD AMERICAN!!!”

*

“I demand to know why you are representing this reprehensible unAmerican terrorist scumbag Bill Ayers. You should be locked up in Guantanamo with the rest of of your brethren. You and your kind (sickos) are truly disgusting and are the real reason the US is not respected any more abroad. In fact, I wouldnt be surprised if you jews are also secretly behind the global market meltdown you pinko commie piece of shit! Kill yourself! - A REAL AMERICAN”

A draft US Army intelligence report has identified the popular micro-blogging service Twitter, Global Positioning System maps and voice-changing software as potential terrorist tools.

The report by the 304th Military Intelligence Battalion, posted on the website of the Federation of American Scientists (FAS), examines a number of mobile and web technologies and their potential uses by militants.

The posting of the report on the FAS site was reported Friday by Wired magazine contributing editor Noah Shachtman on his national security blog "Danger Room" at wired.com.

The report is not based on clandestine reporting but drawn from open source intelligence known as OSINT.

A chapter on "Potential for Terrorist Use of Twitter" notes that Twitter members sent out messages, known as "Tweets," reporting the July Los Angeles earthquake faster than news outlets and activists at the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis used it to provide information on police movements.

"Twitter has also become a social activism tool for socialists, human rights groups, communists, vegetarians, anarchists, religious communities, atheists, political enthusiasts, hacktivists and others to communicate with each other and to send messages to broader audiences," the report said.

Hacktivists refers to politically motivated computer hackers.

"Twitter is already used by some members to post and/or support extremist ideologies and perspectives," the report said.

"Extremist and terrorist use of Twitter could evolve over time to reflect tactics that are already evolving in use by hacktivists and activists for surveillance," it said. "This could theoretically be combined with targeting."

The report outlined scenarios in which militants could make use of Twitter, combined with such programs as Google Maps or cell phone pictures or video, to carry out an ambush or detonate explosives.

"Terrorists could theoretically use Twitter social networking in the US as an operation tool," it said. "However, it is unclear whether that same theoretical tool would be available to terrorists in other countries and to what extent."

Besides Twitter, the report examined the potential use by militants of Global Positioning Systems and other technologies.

"GPS cell phone service could be used by our adversaries for travel plans, surveillance and targeting," it said, noting that just such uses have been discussed in pro-Al-Qaeda forums along with the use of voice-changing software.

"Terrorists may or may not be using voice-changing software but it should be of open source interest that online terrorist and/or terrorist enthusiasts are discussing it," the report said.

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=081025182242.js2g2op8&show_artic...

Infiltrators

Amy Goodman of democracy now interviewed the Ramsey County Sheriff today.  The sheriff admitted that he had hired paid informants to infiltrate various RNC protest groups.  According to the Sheriff:

"We followed our Welcoming Committee members to many cities around the country. We consulted with the terrorism task force in those cities. We received information, etc. But as they started arriving, we were able to identify those that were here.

" 

The ironic thing about this interview is that Amy Goodman herself was arrested at the RNC and pepper sprayed point blank in the face while handcuffed.  This was certainly not the worst police brutality faced by protesters at the RNC.  But it is safe to say that the ramsey county police had a pretty good PR fuck up by arresting her.  You can read the rest of Amy Goodman's interview at democracynow.org.

Terrorism

This admission of consulting with the terrorism task forces is not especially shocking since 8 members of the RNC welcoming committee were charged with rioting in furtherance of terrorism.  From the Twin Cities Indymedia:

"In what appears to be the first use of criminal charges under the 2002 Minnesota version of the Federal Patriot Act, Ramsey County Prosecutors have formally charged 8 alleged leaders of the RNC Welcoming Committee with Conspiracy to Riot in Furtherance of Terrorism. Monica Bicking, Eryn Trimmer, Luce Guillen Givins, Erik Oseland, Nathanael Secor, Robert Czernik, Garrett Fitzgerald, and Max Spector, face up to 7 1/2 years in prison under the terrorism enhancement charge which allows for a 50% increase in the maximum penalty." 

There were an additionally more than 800 arrests at the RNC including more than 20 journalists.  This is truly a frightening turn of events, it is the first practical use of HR-1955, the home grown terrorism bill, which we have written about before.  We can probably expect to see a lot more of this sort of thing in the future.  Where every act of protest or dissent is considered and treated like a terrorist act.  Even the police response in Minneapolis, which was to use tear gas and concussion grenades against unarmed civilians at the RNC.  If this line of thought continues soon the concussion grenades will be the least of our worries as the bullets fly over our heads and we are charged as enemy combatants.  This is a very real threat under the provisions set aside by HR 1955. 

Hack This Zine: A criminal threat?

There were numerous home raids before and during the RNC, at least 5 by some estimates, possibly more.  During the raids everyone in the house was arrested and any equipment was confiscated.  Even hackbloc members had their equipment confiscated (stolen) by the police.  So far, very few of these items have been returned.  The protesters were treated as criminals, not protesters exorcising their first amendment rights.  The Minneapolis Star-Tribune quotes:

"Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher said the St. Paul raid targeted the RNC Welcoming Committee, a group he described as "a criminal enterprise made up of 35 self-described anarchists...intent on committing criminal acts before and during the Republican National Convention."

One of the main things stolen during these police raids were pamphlets fliers and information, including copies of Hack This Zine!  From Twincities.com:

"The seized material included titles such as "Anarchism, What it Really Stands For," "You Can't Blow Up a Social Relationship," "Join the Resistance: Fall in Love," "Hack This Zine" and "An Anarchist Cookbook — Recipes for Disaster." 

I hope they enjoy reading that down at the police station.