British intelligence has hacked into a terrorist magazine and replaced bomb-making instructions with a recipe for cupcakes. According to AP, the cyber-warfare operation was carried out by MI6 and the GCHQ and was an attempt to disrupt the terrorists' attempts to recruit "lone-wolf" agents.
The magazine called Inspire was a 67-page colour magazine. MI6 replaced an article about making a bomb in your mum's kitchen by “AQ Chef" with a web page from recipes for The Best Cupcakes in America published by chat show host Ellen DeGeneres. The web page said that "the little cupcake is big again" adding: "Self-contained and satisfying, it summons memories of childhood even as it's updated for today's sweet-toothed hipsters."
The only thing dangerous in the recipe was that victims might suffer from a sugar rush. This was not as useful to your average terrorist as the instructions on how to make a pipe bomb using sugar, match heads and a miniature light bulb attached to a timer.
MI6 also removed articles by Osama bin Laden, his deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri and a piece called "What to expect in Jihad". Since this did not include being nailed by US Army Seals while shoving your wife in front if you, we guess Osama is probably happy that many didn't see this one.
Al-Qaeda online magazine meets British Intelligence
Nick Farell
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