British intelligence has hacked into an al-Qaida online magazine and replaced bomb-making instructions with a recipe for cupcakes. The cyber-warfare operation was carried out by MI6 and the GCHQ signals intelligence agency to disrupt the terrorists' attempts to recruit "lone-wolf" agents using a new English-language web publication called Inspire, The Daily Telegraph understands.
When followers tried to download the 67-page colour magazine, instead of instructions on how to "Make a bomb in the Kitchen of your Mom" by "The AQ Chef" they were greeted with garbled computer code. The code, which had been inserted into the original magazine by the British intelligence hackers, was actually a web page from recipes for The Best Cupcakes in America published by Ellen DeGeneres, the chat show host. The web page declares that "the little cupcake is big again" adding: "Self-contained and satisfying, it summons memories of childhood even as it's updated for today's sweet-toothed hipsters." Included was a recipe for the Mojito Cupcake - "made of white rum cake and draped in vanilla buttercream"- and the Rocky Road Cupcake, which carried the message "warning: sugar rush ahead!" The original magazine featured instructions on how to make a lethal pipe bomb using sugar, match heads and a miniature light bulb attached to a timer.
No comments:
Post a Comment