Virtually Islamic
Telegraph, Flame virus ‘has infected 189 systems in Iran’, 29 May 2012 “The most sophisticated computer virus the world has ever seen has infected 189 systems in Iran as part of its intelligence gathering functions, experts said”
Times of India, Muslim extremists using Facebook, Twitter to radicalise UK students: Report, 28 May 2012 ” Islamic extremists are using social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter to radicalise British students and spread propaganda, according to a report.
”Campaign groups The Henry Jackson Society and Student Rights, in their report ‘Challenging Extremists’ have uncovered the online use of propaganda.”
I haven’t found this report online yet. I will update when it becomes available. There is a related report here: www.studentrights.org.uk, Online Radicalisation: A Case Study [pdf]
citizenlab.org, Iranian anti-censorship software ‘Simurgh’ circulated with malicious backdoor “It has recently come to our attention that this software is being recommended and circulated among Syrian Internet users for bypassing censorship in their country. This information led to the discovery and analysis of a back-doored version of this software.
“The malicious copy will install the Simurgh software, but will also install an undesirable backdoor on the victim’s computer. This software is distributed as “Simurgh-setup.zip” and is identifiable via the following md5 and sha256 hashes:”
Read the advice on this page. Download the software from simurghesabz.net, which is the official site.
Mark Clayton, Christian Science Monitor, Is State Dept. hacking Al Qaeda? Not quite, but propaganda war is fierce, 24 May 2012 ’Hellfire-missile-carrying drones aren’t the only thing Al Qaeda operatives in Yemen are worrying about these days. Add to the list the US State Department’s new command center devoted to countering the terrorist group’s propaganda on the Internet.”
Mohammad Qaddam Sidq Isa, Daily Herald/allafrica.com, Nigeria: On the ‘Qur’an Birth’ Controversy, 25 May 2012 ”A story recently published in some newspapers in Nigeria, and went viral on the Internet, that a baby was born clutching a copy of the noble Qur’an in his right hand, stirred up a controversy over its authenticity, scientific and religious explanations.”
Reuters/DefenceWeb, Qaeda leader tells fighters to support Mali rebels, 25 May 2012 ”The leader of al Qaeda’s North African wing has put his group’s fighters in Mali’s north at the disposal of Ansar Dine rebels seeking to impose Islamic law across the West African state, the first public comments officially linking to two groups.”
Mehdi Khalaji, majalla.com, The Clerics vs. Modernity “The Islamic Republic of Iran’s greatest fear is neither a military attack on its shadowy nuclear program nor a forced suspension of Uranium enrichment, but a cultural invasion in the form of Western modernity.” refers to internet impact
Doug Bernard, VOA/thecuttingedgenews.com, Why Did Pakistan Shut Off Twitter?, 24 May 2012 “It only lasted for about 8 hours, but that was long enough to start a whole new round of Internet rumor and worry. On Sunday, May 20th, Pakistani telecommunications authorities suddenly blocked all access to the micro-blogging site Twitter, effectively shutting off the service within Pakistan. Then, just as suddenly, service was restored that evening, leaving behind angry web activists and charges about why access was cut off in the first place. The official reason given: concerns about an event that’s come to be known as “Everybody Draw Muhammad Day.”
Association for Progressive Communications, The internet, human rights and the UPR “Access to the internet is multifaceted issue including access to physical infrastructure and access to content. Affordable, universal access to the internet is far from a reality. While some countries have enacted legislation that guarantees access, others are more hesitant, acknowledging the internet’s importance for development but wary of considering it a new human right.”
alarabiya.net, Saudi Arabia: A wave of atheism or a misunderstanding“Social networking websites provide insight into public opinion and the general mood. They also reflect like a mirror everything that has been happening under the table and brings it to the surface. This makes you see things you have never expected and might have not wanted to imagine.” opinion piece referring to social networking
Thousands Of Pilgrims Flock To Commemorate Sufi Saint www.huffingtonpost.com ”Click through to see photos from the festival: Urs Ajmer Sharif is a six-day long annual commemoration of the death of the Persian Sufi Saint Moinuddin Chisti, at his tomb (dargah) in Ajmer, India.”
Review of iMuslims: Thomas Pierret, espacestemps.net, Étudier le cyberspace islamique : du panorama à l’ethnographie, 23 April 2012 “De fait, iMuslims propose un riche panorama de l’internet islamique à la fin des années 2000. Outre un travail de documentation considérable, le principal mérite de l’ouvrage est donc d’offrir un « instantané » d’une réalité en perpétuelle mutation. À ce titre, iMuslims se révélera sans doute une source très utile pour les futurs chercheurs qui étudieront l’internet islamique dans une perspective diachronique. On soulignera ici que l’ouvrage propose un panorama du web islamique à la veille du printemps arabe et facilitera donc l’évaluation des changements induits par ce dernier.”
Chuck Holmes, NPR, Change comes to Saudi Arabia, in slow motion, May 21, 2012 ” … [But] many Saudis think the game-changer is — and will be — the effects of social media. Twitter, Facebook and YouTube have meant that men and women can mingle online. “On the Internet, like-minded Saudis can discuss common issues of concern to them.”
The Next Web, Pakistan turns to Interpol after Twitter declines to help manage “anti-Islamic material”, 21 May 2012 “Pakistan’s Interior Minister, Senator Rehman Malik, has taken to Twitter to explain that, following the Twitter blockage over the weekend, the government has contacted Interpol to take up the issue of screening sensitive content, after Twitter’s management reportedly offered no assistance with the matter.”
