Thaindian News

London, June 3 (IANS) British intelligence agencies hacked an Al Qaeda online magazine and uploaded a cake-making recipe, replacing its original content which enabled browsers to learn how to prepare bombs, Daily Telegraph reported.

It was done as part of cyber-warfare operation to disrupt efforts by Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula to recruit “lone-wolf” terrorists with an English-language magazine.

So, when followers tried to download the 67-page colour magazine, instead of instructions about how to “Make a bomb in the Kitchen of your Mom” by “The AQ Chef” they were greeted with garbled computer code, Daily Telegraph reported.

The code, which had been inserted into the original magazine by the British intelligence hackers, was actually a web page of recipes for “The Best Cupcakes in America” published by the Ellen DeGeneres chat show.

The magazine’s original content featured a recipe showing how to make a lethal pipe bomb using sugar, match heads and a miniature lightbulb, attached to a timer.

The terror magazine is produced by the radical preacher Anwar al-Awlaki, one of the leaders of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) who has lived in Britain and the US, and his associate from North Carolina.

British and US intelligence planned separate attacks after learning that the magazine was about to be issued in June last year.

They have both developed a variety of cyber-weapons, such as computer viruses, to use against both enemy states and terrorists, the report said.

Bruce Reidel, a former CIA analyst said it was “clearly intended for the aspiring jihadist in the US or Britain who may be the next Fort Hood murderer or Times Square bomber”.