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List:       politech
Subject:    FC: FBI bumbling ruins chance for terrorist "cyber-sting"
From:       Declan McCullagh <declan () well ! com>
Date:       2002-07-31 13:12:01
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http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2002-07-30-al-qaeda-online_x.htm

    Man hijacks al-Qaeda site for FBI use

    WASHINGTON (AP) -- When Web operator Jon Messner gained control of one
    of al-Qaeda's prime Internet communication sites, he offered it to the
    FBI to use it for disinformation and collecting data about
    sympathizers.

    What followed, he says, was a week of frustration.

    FBI agents struggled to find someone with enough technical know-how to
    set up the sting. By the time they did, the opportunity was lost as
    militant Islamic Web users figured out the site was a decoy, said
    Messner of Ocean City, Md.

    "It was like dealing with the motor vehicle administration," said
    Messner, who runs Web sites, many of which sell pornographic
    materials. "We could have done something that could have seriously
    impacted things. It took me so many days just to get somebody who
    understood the Internet."

    [...]




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