The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)
Cyber jihadi ‘new breed of terrorist’
A cyber jihadi who used a James Bond-style cufflink to conceal his support for Islamic State (IS) is part of a “new and dangerous breed of terrorist”, a court heard.
Samata Ullah, 34, appeared at the Old Bailey to be sentenced after he admitted five terror offences, including membership of IS, training and preparation of terrorist acts.
At the time of his arrest in Cardiff on September 22 last year, he had a USB cufflink with a Linux operating system loaded on to it to conceal a hoard of extremist data.
Prosecutor Brian Altman QC said: “The prosecution says this defendant represents a new and dangerous breed of terrorist, a cyber terrorist.
“He deployed his not inconsiderable self-taught computer skills to further the cause of terrorism and in particular Islamic State, which we say he not merely professed to belong to but in fact belonged in terms of membership and ideological affiliation, all (of which) he did from the relative safety of his bedroom in Cardiff, where he lived alone.
“From the bedroom of that address, he busied himself assisting others in IS and others who shared their mindset in keeping their actions secret.”
British counter-terrorism police had tracked him down after being passed intelligence by the FBI who had been handed the information from authorities in Kenya, who had arrested another man.
Ullah, who has been diagnosed with autism, was in regular contact with the man via encrypted telegram chats in which he vowed to use his special skills to help in the IS campaign.
He told him he would take “whatever advice and knowledge I have and contribute it to the caliphate”, the court heard.
Officers found he was an active member of IS and had helped other likeminded extremists by teaching them how to keep their activities secret.
From December 2015, he had provided instructional videos on how to secure sensitive data and remain anonymous online with the use of the Tor programme and PGP (Pretty Good Privacy) encryption.
The sentencing hearing was adjourned until Tuesday.