Extremists hone Internet skills, threats - U.S. report

By Thomas Ferraro

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Al Qaeda and other radical groups have dramatically increased their use of the Internet in recent years to lure and train recruits worldwide, a U.S. Senate report warned on Thursday.

The report by the Senate Homeland Security Committee found that these groups run production houses and distribution centers that digitally send anti-American messages to thousands of Web sites around the globe.

"Terrorists, whom some dismiss as people living in caves, are as sophisticated in their communication abilities today as most members of 'Generation Y,'" said committee Chairman Joseph Lieberman, a Connecticut independent.

"America is now vulnerable not just to attacks plotted by terrorists oceans away, as was the case with 9/11, but also to terrorism conceived within our own borders," Lieberman said.

"It used to be that recruits would have to travel to training camps in Afghanistan or Pakistan," said Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, the panel's ranking Republican. "Now the Internet is being used as a tool for training, indoctrination and even operational details."

The committee report -- "Violent Islamist Extremism, the Internet, and the Homegrown Terrorist Threat" -- is part of the panel's investigation into Islamic extremism and "home-grown terrorism."

The report cited recent cases of "home-grown terrorism," including an Illinois man who was arrested in December 2006 and later pleaded guilty to attempting to acquire explosives for an attack.

While extremist groups began using the Internet about a decade ago, the report said many have become experts in going online to push their message.