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Computerworld - Intelligence and security experts last week said new warnings of potential cyberattacks against Western economic targets by al-Qaeda sympathizers should be taken seriously by government policy-makers and the managers of the targeted systems.
In an exclusive interview with Computerworld on Nov. 18, Sheikh Omar Bakri Muhammad, a London-based fundamentalist Islamic cleric with known ties to Osama bin Laden, said al-Qaeda and various other radical Muslim groups around the world are actively planning to use the Internet as a weapon in their "defensive" jihad, or holy war, against the West.
"In a matter of time, you will see attacks on the stock market," said Bakri, referring specifically to the exchanges in New York, London and Tokyo. "That is what al-Qaeda is skillful with. I would not be surprised if tomorrow I hear of a big economic collapse because of somebody attacking the main technical systems in big companies."

Sheikh Omar Bakri Muhammad, founder of the London-based group Jama'at Al-Muhajirun

The White House declined to comment. However, U.S. Navy Cmdr. David Wray, a spokesman for the FBI's National Infrastructure Protection Center (NIPC), said the NIPC is "concerned about the potential for terrorists to use the Internet to inflict damage, as well as using it as a communications tool."
"Among the stated goals of al-Qaeda is a desire to cause economic harm to the U.S., and the Internet is a vital element of our economy," he said.
Cyberwarfare Alert
Although some experts said they doubt Bakri has detailed knowledge of any specific al-Qaeda plans, others characterized his remarks as the first affirmation of cyberwarfare planning by a high-profile radical Islamic leader with ties to terrorist organizations. Bakri is the founder of the London-based group Jama'at Al-Muhajirun and is a self-described spokesman for Osama bin Laden's International Islamic Front for Jihad Against Jews and Crusaders.
"There has been much speculation and some evidence that cyberterrorism is a component in their bags of tricks," said Brian Kelly, president and CEO of iDefense Inc., a cybersecurity company in Chantilly, Va. "But to my knowledge, this is the first clear statement from a senior representative linked directly to the use of cyberterror to help achieve their aims."
Roger Cressey, former chief of staff of the president's Critical Infrastructure Protection Board, said he is unaware of any other high-profile radical figures with links to bin Laden who have talked in such detail about attacks on global information networks.
Cressey said any characterization of international terrorist groups as technologically unsophisticated bands of thugs would be "a fundamental mistake." He said