A Two Edged Sword – Available Social Networking Software

Nov 11
2008

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.

1.1. FAQ

What is it?

Twitter is a service for friends, family, and co–workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing?

How do I use it?
Tell us what you’re doing in 140 characters or less! Send your thoughts, observations, and goings-on in your day. Whether you’re "eating an apple" or "looking foward to the weekend" or "Heading out of town" it’s twitter-worthy. Join us here.

Do I need anything special to use Twitter?
In order to use Twitter you will need one of these things: an internet connection or a mobile phone.

How can I send updates to Twitter?
Send updates to friends and family about what you’re doing in the way that works best for you. Update in myriad ways:

from your phone
from your logged-in home page
from m.twitter.com.
from any of the third party applications on Twitter Fan Wiki, made by the talented folks who’ve utilized our API.

What does it mean to follow someone on Twitter?
Following someone simply means receiving their Twitter updates. How you receive the updates (on your phone, IM, or just on the web) is up to you. You can set your following preferences based on device, and then set notification preferences for each person you follow. Your followers are those who have elected to receive your twitters.

How do I know who I’m following?
Check the profile page of the person in question to be sure, or click the Following link from your logged in home page. You can change following preferences from the profile page, or by using phone/IM commands.

How do I know who is following me?
Set up your email preferences to notify you when you have a new follower, or click the Followers link in your sidebar.

Can I block spammers and other unsavory characters?
Yes. At the bottom of the right hand sidebar on every profile page, there is a block link. Read more about this here. If it’s a spammer you’re blocking, feel free to send us a heads up, always much appreciated!

Who reads my updates?
It’s up to you. If you’re hesitant to have strangers read your updates, in your settings page you can protect your updates so that only your friends will receive them. When you sign up by phone, your updates are automatically protected until you choose otherwise. When you sign up online, your updates will automatically go to both your friends and the public timeline, which is where all of the twitters go. Don’t be shy!

How do I know if my friends are getting my updates on their devices?
You don’t. But, if they are on your friends list, they will always receive your updates on the web.

How long can my updates be?
We have a 140 character limit on Twitter updates. If your update is longer than that, the full update will post to the web where it can be viewed in its entirety. We’ll still send the truncated version: only the first 140 characters will go to phones and IM.

Can I update Twitter from my phone but not receive other people’s updates?
Yes. Once you add and verify your phone, you can use it to update Twitter without getting updates from others. Make sure to set your updates to OFF on the web, or send OFF from chat or your phone. You can also use our mobile site, m.twitter.com.

Can I turn updates on for some people and off for others?
Yes. use the follow and off commands. FOLLOW + user name (follow krissy, for example) tells Twitter that you want a specific person’s updates. You can also click the follow link from their profile page on the web, or type the command into your chat window. Conversely, OFF + user name (off krissy) will disable updates from that person.

Can I edit my updates once they’ve posted to the web?
No. Once it goes, it goes! You can delete the message by clicking the small trash can, but no changing text, context, spelling errors, etc.

How do I use Twitter with my phone?
Check out some popular questions about using Twitter with your phone here.

What are the Twitter phone numbers?
We currently have three short codes and one long code for those who twitter internationally.

In the US, use 40404.
In Canada, use 21212.
In India, use 5566511.
Anywhere else, use +44 7624 801423

What is a short code?
Short codes are numbers made specifically for SMS and MMS messages. Twitter uses various short codes to send and receive your updates. Sending a text message to a short code is just like sending a text message to a phone number. Short codes are made specifically for text messaging, so you can’t send an email to a short code, or call a short code. Charges for using our short codes are the same as standard text messaging rates to full-length phone numbers.

Does Twitter have a mobile site?
Yep! Check out m.twitter.com on your mobile web browser.

Can I use Twitter with Instant Messaging (IM)?
No. IM is temporarily unavailable while we work on making it better.

Can I use the same phone number on multiple accounts?
No. You can only use one phone number for one account.

How do I stop getting ALL twitter notifications?
Send OFF from your phone, IM, or any other device to stop getting Twitter updates at any time.

How can I turn Twitter on again?
The best way to turn Twitter on is to send the ON command from the device. You can also turn your phone and chat updates on from the web from your home page or you can send ON to Twitter.

How do I add a friend who already uses Twitter?
Each person’s profile page has a follow button. When you click it, you’ll be following them, which means you can receive their Twitter updates on your phone or IM, as well as the web. Set phone or IM notification preferences in the web drop down box.

Can new people without Twitter accounts follow me?
Yes. If you tell a friend to send follow + your username to Twitter, and they don’t have an account, Twitter will walk them through mobile sign up. Your friend can later go to the web and complete the sign up if they’d like, but they don’t have to.

Why is there a star at the end of updates?
The star is a way for you to mark an update as favorite. Click on the Favorites link in your sidebar to see all of the ones you’ve starred.

What is tracking?
Tracking is an SMS or IM only feature that allows you to receive all twitters that match a word you’re tracking. For example, if you send track Obama, you will receive all updates that match "Obama." All updates sent from tracking will begin with parenthesis. You can easily stop getting these messages by sending untrack Obama.

What’s a Nudge?
A nudge is a friendly reminder to update Twitter. Friends can nudge you (and you them) by sending nudge + username to Twitter, or by clicking the nudge link from a person’s profile page.

What’s an Auto-Nudge?
Auto-nudge is a self-reminding update feature. In other words, we know you have busy lives and may not always remember to Twitter. By popular demand, auto-nudge has come into being. You can schedule a Twitter nudge if you haven’t updated in 24 hours.

Can I send someone a private message?
Send a Twitter friend a Direct Text, which will go to their individual phone or web page. From the web, click Message from the proile page or use the drop down box on your Direct Messages page. From your phone, use this command: D + username + message. HINT: a person’s user name and screen name may differ. To ensure you have the right user name, go to the person’s profile page and look in the URL at the top of the page.

Where can I find my Direct Messages?
From your logged in homepage, click Direct Messages in the side bar to see all of the messages you’ve received from Twitter friends. To see the messages you’ve sent to others, click the Sent tab.

If I turn Twitter off, will I still get Direct Messages?
Yes. You will receive direct messages if you send OFF only once; to disable direct messages, send OFF twice. You will always receive a copy of your message on your web archive, and in your email if you set it up in your preferences.

What are @replies?
@replies are twitters directed at a specific user in response to one of their updates. When someone replies to your Twitter update by using @username, we collect their reply and catalog it the replies tab on your logged-in home page. You can reply publicly to any update on Twitter by using the @username format.

What is the difference between @username and Direct Message?
Messages sent via Direct Message (D + username +update) are private, and readable only by the person you send it to. Messages sent in the@username format are public.

Why wont my feed reader take my @replies RSS feed?
The @replies RSS feed requires authentication; most web-based feed readers don’t support authentication. If yours doesn’t, you wont be able to see your @replies via rss feed. Try the feed in a desktop feed reader, which usually supports authentication.

Does Twitter allow html in web updates?
No. We escape all html for security purposes. However, if you paste in a link that is less than 30 characters, we’ll post it in its entirety. If it’s longer than 30 characters, we’ll convert it to a tiny URL.

Why does Twitter use tiny URL?
Tiny is tidy! Tiny URL takes long, ugly, 30+ characters links with an obscene amount of punctuation, such as ? or &, and converts them to slim, trim, tidy, pretty, Twitter links that mesh well with our 140 character limit.

Can I put Twitter on my blog?
Yes! You can put a Twitter badge on your blog, website, MySpace… anything that accepts Javascript or HTML. You can even customize your Twitter badge to match!

How do I customize my badge?
You can alter the html of your Twitter badge to display anything you want. Ev makes his a subheading on his blog, Adam has his in the sidebar, and Jon has made it possible to view the last 10 updates instead of the most recent one.

Is there a Twitter API?
Yes. You can find it at the bottom of your logged-in homepage, or here.

What is Twitterrific?
Twitterrific is an awesome little desktop application from Iconfactory that enables you to receive Twitters and post them without being on the site. Sorry PC users, it’s only for Macs.

How can I find more stuff like this?
Check out the Twitter Fan Wiki! This is an awesome resource put together by Twitter users for Twitter users, featuring stuff made by and for Twitter users!

Does Twitter work with Facebook?
Yep! Send and receive updates from within Facebook, or use your Twitter updates as your Facebook status.

I sent HELP to Twitter and got no response!

When you’re lost, sending the HELP command should send you immediate instructions. If you don’t receive them, it’s possible that you are using the wrong Twitter number, and therefore, not getting the message. If you send HELP from chat or phone with no results, check Satisfaction for the latest, email support@twitter.com, write us from the web.

Is there a place where I can find out if there are problems with Twitter?

Yes. Check the Twitter Status Blog, or follow @twitter. Also, check out Twitter’s Satisfaction site.

Questions? Write us.

The introduction to an Army intelligence report on "Potential for Terrorist Use of Twitter."

(Credit: FSA.org)

The U.S. intelligence community is concerned that terrorists might use micro-blogging tool Twitter to coordinate attacks, according to a purported draft Army intelligence report posted on the Web.

The report–present by the 304th Military Intelligence Battalion and posted to the Federation of the American Scientists Web site–examines the possible ways terrorists could use mobile and Web technologies such as the Global Positioning System, digital maps, and Twitter mashups to plan and execute terrorist attacks.

The presentation (PDF), which was first presented earlier this month, was reported Friday by Wired magazine’s Noah Shachtman. A chapter titled "Potential for Terrorist Use of Twitter," presents general, introductory information on Twitter and how it works, and describes how the service was used to report details of a recent earthquake in Los Angeles and by activists at the Republican National Convention.

The report goes on to say:

Twitter is already used by some members to post and/or support extremist ideologies and perspectives. 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. This could theoretically be combined with targeting.

The report describes hacktivists as politically motivated hackers.

The report also described scenarios in which terrorists could leverage "potential adversarial use of Twitter," such as planning ambushes or detonating explosives:

Scenario 1: Terrorist operative "A" uses Twitter with (or without) a cell phone camera/video function to send back messages, and to receive messages, from the rest of his cell. Operative "A" also has a Google Maps Twitter Mash Up of where he is under a code word for other members of his cell (if they need more in-depth directions) posted on the WWW that can be viewed from their mobiles. Other members of his cell receive near real time updates (similar to the movement updates that were sent by activists at the RNC) on how, where, and the number of troops that are moving in order to conduct an ambush.

Scenario 2: Terrorist operative "A" has a mobile phone for Tweet messaging and for taking images. Operative "A" also has a separate mobile phone that is actually an explosive device and/or a suicide vest for remote detonation. Terrorist operative "B" has the detonator and a mobile to view "A’s" Tweets and images. This may allow "B" to select the precise moment of remote detonation based on near real time movement and imagery that is being sent by "A."

Scenario 3: Cyber Terrorist operative "A" finds U.S. [soldier] Smith’s Twitter account. Operative "A" joins Smith’s Tweets and begins to elicit information from Smith. This information is then used for a targeting package (targeting in this sense could be identity theft, hacking, and/or physical.) This scenario is not new and has already been discussed for other social networking sites, such as My Space and/or Face Book.

However, the overview notes that the research used to generate the report was gathered from open source intelligence and not compared with information in classified venues.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-10075487-83.html

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