Posted on 06/29/2011 7:29:37 PM PDT by Bad~Rodeo
MI6 targets English language magazine aimed at Western Muslims
LONDON (Reuters Life!) - British spies hacked into an al-Qaida website to replace instructions on how to build a bomb with recipes for making cupcakes, newspapers reported on Friday.
The cyber offensive took place last year when the English language magazine called Inspire, aimed at Muslims in the West, was launched by supporters of al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).
British intelligence officers based at the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), the state eavesdropping service, attacked the 67-page magazine, leaving most of it garbled, British newspapers said.
Instead of being able to read how to "Make a Bomb in the Kitchen of Your Mom," readers were greeted with computer code which actually contained recipes from The Best Cupcakes in America, published by U.S. chat show host Ellen DeGeneres.
The Washington Post reported that the British action followed a dispute between the CIA and the newly formed U.S. Cyber Command.
The cyber unit had wanted to block the al Qaeda magazine but the CIA, which had countered such an attack would expose sources and intelligence methods, won the debate and declined to allow an attack on Inspire.
The paper reported that it took almost two weeks for AQAP to post a corrected version of the magazine after it had been sabotaged.
A British security source said the Post's report was accurate but could not confirm
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
I dont really keep up with the show - but it sounds realistic to me. Counter-espionage is not a safe profession. :)
TTIWWOCCR!
(This Thread Is Worthless With Out Cup Cake Recipes!)
And, what a good whole new meaning it is! lol
Yes, it would have been smarter to put up very simlar but slightly incorrect instructions that would lead to the construction of duds that could never go off. It might have taken the terrorists a long time to figure out something was wrong with their online instructions.
Chocolate is good. Period.
We are the only planet that has chocolate, so we must save the world.
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