The Dark Web

The internet's ability to leap borders, thwart censorship and preserve anonymity is making it a crucial tool in recruiting jihadists. Discontented western Muslim youth, even in Australia, are ripe for the message of hate of the cyber imams. I T'S A FORMIDABLE blockade: 5000 armed police and troops, 5km of security fencing, closed-circuit TV surveillance and backup muscle including army helicopters and water cannon. But when Sydney plays host next month to some of the world's top terror targets, there'll be another level of security few will see. In a world where Islamic fundamentalists use 21st-century technology to further medieval ambitions, keeping out the bad guys has become much more complicated than throwing up a giant wall. and the other 21 leaders gathering for APEC also requires massive computers tapped into the internet, trawling chat rooms and sites spawned by 9/11 and fuelled by the Iraq war. When terrorists hit London, Madrid, Wash-ington and New York, the internet featured every time. So for Sydney, the hunt is on for the slightest hint that an operation is under way. Australian Federal Police are " walking the beat " on the internet with British and US agents around the clock, setting up false web-sites and working closely with the Defence Signals Directorate to monitor communications. Deep inside the Canberra HQ of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, a compact team of specialists spends part of each day and night scanning the web. Their work is not random: they are tracking the internet footprints of Australia's radical jihadi suspects. Every day, say Australian and international intelligence sources, suspected terrorists in Australia log onto computers at home and in internet cafes, to make new friends and affirm twisted beliefs, both with locals and others thousands of kilometres away.