Archiv: SITE Intelligence Group / SITE institute (officially 2002-2008)


28.04.2026 - 19:44 [ Hackerfactor.com ]

A Picture’s Worth… Digital Image Analysis and Forensics

(2007)

5 Example: Dr. Ayman al Zawahiri

As-Sahab is the video production branch of Al Qaeda. They periodically release videos designed to remind people of Al Qaeda’s existence, issue threats, recruit members, and potentially act as a covert channel for triggering terrorist cells. Many of the videos by As-Sahab appear to have been manipulated.

On 20-Dec-2006, Dr. Ayman al Zawahiri (#2 guy in Al Qaeda) released a video. USA Today covered the video release with a headline story (Figure 25).24 USA Today’s description of the video says, “He wore a black turban and white robe … he had a rifle behind his right shoulder that was leaning against a plain brown backdrop.” While this is a valid description of the As-Sahab video, the picture used by USA Today did not show that image. Instead, USA Today used a picture from another video, dated 28-Sept-2006. This is an example of a mislabeled image.

The picture that USA Today chose to use with the story includes many other interesting features. First, it came from the IntelCenter (www.intelcenter.com) – an organization that tracks terrorist activities. The IntelCenter placed their logo in the top-right corner of the video. However, the company name is clearly cropped – likely by USA Today. A comparison with the same frame from the actual video shows many other observable differences. In particular, the IntelCenter adjusted the color and sharpness of the picture (Figure 26).

(…)

5.1 Other Al Zawahiri Videos

The video from 28-Sept-2006 was not the only manipulated video. In fact, many of the videos featuring al Zawahiri test positive for chroma-key masking. Consider the video released on 27-July-2006 (Figure 27).26 This video appears to show al Zawahiri sitting in a video studio.

When this video came out, many Americans became enraged at the US government. The main strife was generated
by a single argument: if al Zawahiri is sitting in a studio making videos, the why can’t we catch him? The answer is simple: he is not in a studio.

(…)

5.2 Back in Black

Claiming that there was a chroma-key background is not the same as actually seeing it. On 22-Jan-2007, the SITE
Institute (www.siteinstitute.org) – an organization that tracks terrorist activities – announced that they had
intercepted an Al Qaeda video before it had been publicly released; SITE released it. Three days later, As-Sahab
also released the video. ….

28.04.2026 - 19:36 [ killab66661 / Youtube ]

2007 BlackHat Vegas V38 Krawetz A Pictures Worth 02

Nov 2, 2010

28.04.2026 - 19:30 [ Newsbusters.org ]

Hacker Proves How MSM is Fooled by al Qaeda Photochopped Images

(August 5th, 2007)

At the Black Hat computer Hacker‘s conference held in Las Vegas last week, Neal Krawetz of „Hacker Factor“ showed how easily the MSM has been tricked into believing the fake images that al Qaeda has offered to further their propaganda. Krawetz specifically referred to two images, one the July 27, 2006 image of al Qaeda second in command al-Zawahiri supposedly sitting in a modern television studio. It was an image that had the tongues of the MSM and pundits alike wagging. How is it, they clucked, that al-Zawahiri could be sitting in a modern television studio yet still could not be found?

Krawetz demonstrated how the elements of the two images, however, are special effects and not real.

28.04.2026 - 16:09 [ Telegraph.co.uk ]

Jihadists appear caught offguard by release of Steven Sotloff video

(September 2, 2014)

The video of Steven Sotloff‘s apparent murder appears to have been found by a private US intelligence firm before it could be released by the Islamic State.

News of Mr Sotloff‘s death was broken by the SITE Intelligence group, a private company that monitors jihadist activity and has close ties to the American intelligence community.

The group‘s analysts found the video on what a spokesman described as „a file-sharing site“ and send it out to its subscriber list. SITE‘s subscribers include government officials, journalists and academics involved in analysing terrorism.

28.04.2026 - 15:29 [ Washington Post ]

Leak Severed a Link to Al-Qaeda‘s Secrets

(October 9, 2007)

The al-Qaeda video aired on Sept. 7 attracted international attention as the first new video message from the group‘s leader in three years. In it, a dark-bearded bin Laden urges Americans to convert to Islam and predicts failure for the Bush administration in Iraq and Afghanistan. The video was aired on hundreds of Western news Web sites nearly a full day before its release by a distribution company linked to al-Qaeda.

Computer logs and records reviewed by The Washington Post support SITE‘s claim that it snatched the video from al-Qaeda days beforehand. Katz requested that the precise date and details of the acquisition not be made public, saying such disclosures could reveal sensitive details about the company‘s methods.

28.04.2026 - 15:19 [ Daniel Neun / Radio Utopie ]

Von Zawahiri zu Spiegel Online

(January 23, 2007)

Das „SITE-Institut“ erklärt übrigens auf seiner website, daß Geheimagenten meistens zu doof seien, Zeitung zu lesen oder sonstirgendwas von Recherche zu verstehen.
Hmm..

Na, jedenfalls würde man ihnen die Arbeit abnehmen, mit allerlei Untersuchungen finanzieller Zusammenhänge, Identifizierungen, öffentliche Quellen anzapfen, blabla.
Warum sie es dann in all den Jahren zwar schaffen, Sawahiri-Botschaften abzufangen, aber nicht wissen, von wem die kommen und wohin die gehen, sagt dieses Institut des Vertrauens nicht.

Man stelle sich mal jemand auf einem Baseballfeld vor, der mit verbundenen Augen (fröhlich vor sich hin pfeifend) locker die Hand nach oben hält (nachdem er vorher nicht etwa wie beknackt über den Platz gesprintet ist, nein, nein, sondern einfach nur dagestanden hat, natürlich ohne was zu sehen) und dann fröhlich ruft:“ I got it!“ und einen Ball in der Hand hält.

Mal ehrlich – zu meiner Zeit hätte man ihn erstmal gefragt, wie viele er davon noch auf Tasche hat.

28.04.2026 - 15:11 [ ZDF Heute ]

Terror mit Sprengstoff oder Waffen: Verfassungsschutz warnt vor Anschlägen pro-iranischer Gruppe

Die Behörde erklärte auf Anfrage des „Handelsblatts“ (Dienstagsausgabe):

„Neu ist die Warnung HAYIs, sich nunmehr nicht mehr nur auf ‚einfache‘ Angriffe zu beschränken, sondern langfristig auch gefährlichere Tatmittel einzubeziehen.“

(…)

Bei dem jüngsten Angriff am Samstag war eine Flasche mit einem Brandbeschleuniger durch das Fenster einer Synagoge in Harrow vor den Toren von London geworfen worden.

Nach Angaben der Organisation SITE Intelligence Group übernahm die bislang wenig in Erscheinung getretene Gruppe HAYI die Verantwortung für einen Teil der Angriffe. Die Organisation unterhält demnach enge Verbindungen zu Iran.

Quelle: AFP