[NetBehaviour] Tracking the Terrorists Online

[marc garrett]

Tracking the Terrorists Online

By Yassin Musharbash in Washington, D.C.

For years, al-Qaida and other terror groups have set up shop in the 
Internet. Those who track them have covertly followed. The companies 
SITE and IntelCenter have penetrated even deeper into the terror Web 
than most intelligence agencies.

When al-Qaida was founded, Josh Devon was nine years old. Ben Venzke was 
15. The year was 1988, and Devon and Venzke were as uninterested in the 
terrorist network as its leader, Osama bin Laden, was in the two young 
Americans.

Now, two decades later, things have changed. Venzke and Devon have both 
become fascinated in terrorism and have turned that interest into 
careers. And al-Qaida now takes careful note of their work.

Venzke and Devon are two of the most prominent "terror trackers" 
worldwide. In the United States, and increasingly in other countries, 
the term refers to a community of people who spend their days analyzing 
traces that al-Qaida and affiliated organizations leave behind, 
especially on the Internet. The two Americans are essentially digital 
trackers in the age of globalized terrorism.

IntelCenter and SITE Intelgroup are the companies that Venzke and Devon, 
respectively, have founded. They enjoy a strong reputation within the 
relatively small community of terrorism experts. Beyond that, though, 
they are virtually unknown -- but wrongly so.

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