Published in Mobiles

Al Qaeda comes up with natty encryption software

by on15 May 2014



We are waiting for the press release

If Al Qaeda ever gets out of the psychopathic blowing people up business, it could make a bob or two making security software. According to Ars Technica, “call me Al” Qaeda has developed new encryption software which has left the NSA snooping on people who are not interested in blowing people up.

Intelligence firm Recorded Future reported how three new major encryption tools were adopted within a three- to five-month period following leaks from former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, according to the report. The apps replace or bolster the original Mujahideen Secrets crypto program that al Qaeda members have mainly used for e-mail since 2007. One of the new releases, with the sexy title of Tashfeer al-Jawwal, is a mobile program developed by the Global Islamic Media Front and released in September. We are not sure what the Islamic Media front, or the Global Islamic Front have come up with… splitters. 

A second encryption tool Asrar al-Ghurabaa, was released by the Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham in November. Al-Sham is a bunch of splitters who broke away from the main al Qaeda group following a power struggle. The third program is known as Amn al-Mujahid and was released in December by the Al-Fajr Technical Committee. Goodness knows how software could be written by committee. The tool probably started out as code to fix a vending machine and ended up as being state of the art encryption.

Cryptography and security expert Bruce Schneier thinks the release of new crypto tools will help US intelligence efforts. He thinks that a home-brew encryption product is not likely to be as good as an open saucy product so it should be a doddle for the NSA to crack it.

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