Terrorism on the Internet

I have just finished reading Gabriel Weimann’s book, Terror on the Internet. It is an enlightening (and rather rudimentary) introduction to how and why terrorists use the Internet. Here are some of the key themes from the book.

By its very nature, the Internet is an ideal tool for activity by terrorist organizations. It offers

easy access;
little or no regulation, censorship, or other forms of government control;
potentially huge audiences spread throughout the world;
anonymity of communication;
fast flow of information;
inexpensive development and maintenance of a web presence;
a multimedia environment (the ability to combine text, graphics, audio, and video and to allow users to download films, songs, books, posters, and so forth); and
the ability to shape coverage in the traditional mass media, which increasingly use the Internet as a source for stories.

Who is the audience for terrorism web sites? Current and potential supporters, international public opinion, and enemy publics (citizens of the states against which the terrorist are fighting).

How do terrorists use the Internet? Terrorists use the Internet for publicity and disseminating propaganda, data mining (leveraging billions of pages of information), fundraising, recruitment, networking, sharing information, planning and coordination.

I have a fairly strong technical background, and while the general information in the book was Interesting, I would have preferred to see more detailed information on how terrorists remain anonymous and avoid detection.

Update: I just ran across an article in the New York Times entitled Zarqawi Built Global Jihadist Network on Internet. It is a timely addition to this post.