Terrorist Code Words

Bucon

According to todays Financial Times : "An anonymous call reached the secret service on Tuesday, using code words known only to the agency staff, the caller issued a chilling warning " Air Force 1 is next" "

This put into my mind the use of codewords between terrorist groups and the authorities in the past. How do the relevant agencies agree the codewords in advance?, and how do they know the people they are agreeing the codewords with ARE actually members of the correct organisation?

Bucon.

Victor

Presumably these code words are either fixed for a given period or a 'select list' is used. Some lower level code words may be used over a long period within a small group.

The parties:
Attackers– Usually bombers of terrorist or “freedom-fighter” persuasion, these are usually the ones who would issue the list of words (it is likely to be a very one-way system).

Intermediaries - typical intermediaries are news agencies, The Samaritans and clergy.

Officials – usually the police, but also military, special agencies and government officials. These may issue code words from time to time to Intermediaries (for use by the Intermediaries or Attackers), having received them from Attackers directly of through other Intermediaries.

I imagine most than one word is used. It is believed the phrase used in the Omagh bombing was "Marsha Pope", however the call was garbled and this is part of the reason that things went wrong. Using multiple words means that it is less likely that the word can be mistaken or that a member of the public can guess it.

There would be a number of ways to distribute these lists, perhaps through Intermediaries or by post or by ‘drop’. Sending it by post or drop would mean the list would have to be validated from another source - a previous list or a specific action, e.g. a 'safe' bombing.

The objective of the code word / phrase is to ensure the police are not flooded by hoaxes and that the police can evacuate the public, if the public is in the vicinity of a target. It is not generally in the Attacker’s interests to injure or kill members of the public.

Code words are unlikely to be used where it is a defendable (airports, military installations) or mobile (VIPs, military or vehicles / aircraft) target.

Likely levels of code words would be:

Entry level - for seeking the recipient’s immediate attention. Available to all participants - Attackers, Intermediaries and Officials.

Intermediary level - This would be used by an Attacker to an Intermediary to verify a statement or action

Official level - This would be used by an Attacker to an Official (perhaps via an Intermediary) for resolving "issues", for example an unsafe bomb in an unsafe location.

Special – some code words may be used for specific types of attacks, e.g. “Professor-Scroll”, “Professor-Key” and “Professor-Clock” may be used in sequential fire bomb whereas “Fridge-Bull”, “Fridge-Car”, “Fridge-Chocolate” might be used for explosive bombs. Specific words might be used over a long time to inform on type or time of action, request action or identify places or people.