Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK

CRIME

New social network links ex-terrorists and victims

Google launched a new online social network on Wednesday to link former German neo-Nazis with former radical Islamists in Indonesia - and their victims - to find ways to combat extremism.

Published: 25 April 2012 18:01 CEST
New social network links ex-terrorists and victims
Photo: DPA

The new social network for former violent extremists around the globe – and their victims – was launched in New York on Wednesday by the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD) and Google Ideas.

It aims to share expertise on preventing young people from becoming radicalised and helping individuals to leave violent extremist groups.

The network, www.AgainstViolentExtremism.org (AVE), will also include those with an interest in countering violent extremism: activists, policy-makers, entrepreneurs, and other business people.

“I will certainly subscribe, and follow what is going on,” Harald Weilnboeck, researcher at Germany’s Violence Prevention Network, told The Local. “It’s also good that a private media company like Google is involved, because a lot of the media reporting on young extremists is not helpful.”

The AVE network emerged from a unique summit hosted by Google Ideas in Dublin last year, which brought together perpetrators and victims of extremism. Relatives of those killed in 9/11 sat with former IRA bombers and discussed how extremism could be prevented in the future.

“The Summit Against Violent Extremism (SAVE) demonstrated that former perpetrators and survivors of violent extremism are powerful influencers in turning potential and existing extremists away from a violent path,” AVE said in a statement.

Weilnboeck, who works with German extremists from across the political spectrum, thinks he could learn much from those targeted by the site such as former radical Islamists in Pakistan.

“Yes, absolutely,” he said. “There are similarities between the patterns of radicalisation of young men across the world. It will be a tool for understanding radicalisation. ”

ISD director Sasha Havlicek says AVE will be more than just another talking shop, and should result in “practical outcomes.”

“For instance, a youth worker could post a request for a thousand euros in funding to pay the rent on their office for a few months and if a donor is interested they can connect through the website,” she said in a statement. “Or a community group might be looking for help in organising a social media campaign, which could be picked up by a tech company in Silicon Valley.”

The AVE network is to be run by ISD, a London-based think tank that specializes in counter-extremism. The idea is for members to “stay in touch, share ideas, collaborate, find investment and partners, and project their messages to wider audiences.”

AVE’s aim is to have 500 members by the end of the year. It already includes former members of the white power movement in the US and former Islamist extremists from Indonesia.

The Local/bk

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.

GERMANY AND RUSSIA

Germany, Czech Republic accuse Russia of cyberattacks

Germany and the Czech Republic on Friday blamed Russia for a series of recent cyberattacks, prompting the European Union to warn Moscow of consequences over its "malicious behaviour in cyberspace".

Published: 4 May 2024 10:29 CEST
Germany, Czech Republic accuse Russia of cyberattacks

The accusations come at a time of strained relations between Moscow and the West following Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine and the European Union’s support for Kyiv.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said a newly concluded government investigation found that a cyberattack targeting members of the Social Democratic Party had been carried out by a group known as APT28.

APT28 “is steered by the military intelligence service of Russia”, Baerbock told reporters during a visit to Australia.

“In other words, it was a state-sponsored Russian cyberattack on Germany and this is absolutely intolerable and unacceptable and will have consequences.”

APT28, also known as Fancy Bear, has been accused of dozens of cyberattacks in countries around the world. Russia denies being behind such actions.

The hacking attack on German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s SPD party was made public last year. Hackers exploited a previously unknown vulnerability in Microsoft Outlook to compromise e-mail accounts, according to Berlin.

Berlin on Friday summoned the acting charge d’affaires of the Russian embassy over the incident.

The Russian embassy in Germany said its envoy “categorically rejected the accusations that Russian state structures were involved in the given incident… as unsubstantiated and groundless”.

Arms, aerospace targeted: Berlin 

German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said the cyber campaign was orchestrated by Russia’s military intelligence service GRU and began in 2022. It also targeted German companies in the armaments and aerospace sectors, she said.

Such cyberattacks are “a threat to our democracy, national security and our free societies”, she told a joint news conference in Prague with her Czech counterpart Vit Rakusan.

“We are calling on Russia again to stop these activities,” Faeser added.

Czech government officials said some of its state institutions had also been the target of cyberattacks blamed on APT28, again by exploiting a weakness in Microsoft Outlook in 2023.

Czech Interior Minister Rakusan said his country’s infrastructure had recently experienced “higher dozens” of such attacks.

“The Czech Republic is a target. In the long term, it has been perceived by the Russian Federation as an enemy state,” he told reporters.

EU, NATO condemnation

The German and Czech findings triggered strong condemnation from the European Union.

“The malicious cyber campaign shows Russia’s continuous pattern of irresponsible behaviour in cyberspace, by targeting democratic institutions, government entities and critical infrastructure providers across the European Union and beyond,” EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell said.

The EU would “make use of the full spectrum of measures to prevent, deter and respond to Russia’s malicious behaviour in cyberspace”, he added.

State institutions, agencies and entities in other member states including in Poland, Lithuania, Slovakia and Sweden had been targeted by APT28 in the past, the statement added.

The latest accusations come a day after NATO expressed “deep concern” over Russia’s “hybrid actions” including disinformation, sabotage and cyber interference.

The row also comes as millions of Europeans prepare to go to the polls for the European Parliament elections in June, and concerns about foreign meddling are running high.

Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky told AFP that “pointing a finger publicly at a specific attacker is an important tool to protect national interests”.

One of the most high-profile incidents so far blamed on Fancy Bear was a cyberattack in 2015 that paralysed the computer network of the German lower house of parliament, the Bundestag. It forced the entire institution offline for days while it was fixed.

In 2020, the EU imposed sanctions on individuals and entities linked to the APT28 group over the incident.

SHOW COMMENTS