An Interview With Jon David, The Man Who Hacked al-Queda's Homepage
by John Hawkins
I scored a coup by getting an interview with Jon David, who hacked al-Queda's homepage. I wish I could have had a little more time to talk with him but considering that he's been getting interviewed by the likes of CNN, ABC, and the Washington Post today I was lucky to get him at all.
John Hawkins: How long have you been going after terrorist run/al-Queda related web sites?
Jon David: Since September 11th. I felt powerless at first like everyone else, then thought that the one thing I do know is the Internet. So I took it upon myself at that point to do everything within my ability to disrupt the flow of terrorist information and communication on the net. I immediately began registering sound-like domains, similars, etc., like Al-Quada.com, Alneda.org, and eventually I succeeded in hijacking Alneda.com, al-Queda's domain itself.
John Hawkins: Was that your first big success?
Jon David: No, actually I had a great deal of success with the similar domains of Alneda.org and Alneda.net because each time the feds shut down Alneda.com, the hostiles would gravitate towards the .net & .org pages thinking that that was the site. Even before I gained control of Alneda.com, I logged information that I passed on to the authorities. I was able to track the people who accessed the website, which reads like a virtual who's who of hostile nations. But, I have to say capturing Alneda.com was certainly the coup de grace.
John Hawkins: You logged the information and sent it to the FBI is that correct? Are they giving you any indication that they're doing anything with it? I ask because if they have IPs and times they can literally go the ISPs these guys are connecting with and then they can turn it into names and addresses they can compare to terrorist watch lists and intelligence reports...
Jon David: We have all the IP addresses to the tune of 27 thousand visitors a day seeking Alneda.com (the calling) from every hostile country imaginable. But interestingly enough, 90% were from Saudi Arabia.
John Hawkins: Just like 15 of the 19 hijackers...no big surprise there.
Jon David: It literally took me 5 days to reach anyone in the FBI that had an even elementary grasp of the Internet. By that time, the hostiles realized the site I had up was a decoy and then advised everyone away from it. I still gave the FBI all the log information and link information to the hostile boards and whatnot, but it's far from what could have potentially been done if they would have acted more quickly. But they are a bureaucracy and as such they move incredibly slow.
John Hawkins: They should have been falling all over themselves to grab the info you were offering them...
Jon David: I would have thought so too but what became apparent was that I had a different definition of the word 'immediate' than the FBI did.
John Hawkins: If you had IPs and times they should have had a dozen agents working with you within the hour. The potential is there to literally put away HUNDREDS of al-Queda members if they're on top of this and can get any real cooperation from the Saudi government. So how did you manage to hijack al-Queda's domain?
Jon David: I hijacked the domain using a snapback utility. They were apparently trying to move the domain to a registrar in India when my snapback entered my owner information and I then took control of the domain. And I must say, they are not happy.
John Hawkins: So any concern for your safety after digitally flipping off the world's foremost terrorist organization?
Jon David: Naturally I'm a little concerned, but no more concerned that any of the young men and women who have been called to duty in Afghanistan. I believe they face more grave peril daily than I will...hopefully anyway. But I still would not advise anyone to sneak up and tap me on the shoulder when I'm walking down the street for a while. LOL
(**Editor's Note: I know the name 'Jon David' is an alias and other news sources have printed "Jon's" real name. However, I have decided to honor his wishes and leave the alias in place.**)
