The Internet is used by internat. insurgents, jihadists, and terrorist org. as a tool for radicalization and recruitment, a method of propaganda dist., a means of commun., and ground for training. Although there are no known reported incidents of cyberattacks on critical infrastructure, this could become a tactic in the future. Contents of this report: (1) Background; (2) Why and How Internat. Terrorists Use the Internet: Propaganda, Recruitment, and Training; Cybercrime and Fund-Raising; Cyberattacks; (3) Fed. Gov't. (FG) Efforts to Address Cyberterrorism; FG Monitoring and Response; Counter-Propaganda: Strategic Commun., Public Diplomacy; DoD Offensive Response; (4) FG Challenges and Implications. This is a print on demand report.
This publication contains a report that evaluates the main problems that arise in the context of cyberterrorism and provides recommendations, together with reports on the situation in the member and observer states of the Council of Europe and the relevant Council of Europe conventions.--Publisher's description.
Online Terrorist Propaganda, Recruitment, and Radicalization is most complete treatment of the rapidly growing phenomenon of how terrorists’ online presence is utilized for terrorism funding, communication, and recruitment purposes. The book offers an in-depth coverage of the history and development of online "footprints" to target new converts, broaden their messaging, and increase their influence. Chapters present the emergence of various groups; the advancement of terrorist groups’ online presences; their utilization of video, chat room, and social media; and the current capability for propaganda, training, and recruitment. With contributions from leading experts in the field—including practitioners and terrorism researchers—the coverage moves from general factors to specific groups practices as relate to Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), and numerous other groups. Chapters also examine the lone wolf phenomenon as a part of the disturbing trend of self-radicalization. A functional, real-world approach is used regarding the classification of the means and methods by which an online presence is often utilized to promote and support acts of terrorism. Online Terrorist Propaganda, Recruitment, and Radicalization examines practical solutions in identifying the threat posed by terrorist propaganda and U.S. government efforts to counter it, with a particular focus on ISIS, the Dark Web, national and international measures to identify, thwart, and prosecute terrorist activities online. As such, it will be an invaluable resources for intelligence professionals, terrorism and counterterrorism professionals, those researching terrorism funding, and policy makers looking to restrict the spread of terrorism propaganda online.
The war on terrorism has not been won, Gabriel Weimann argues in Terrorism in Cyberspace, the successor to his seminal Terror on the Internet. Even though al-Qaeda's leadership has been largely destroyed and its organization disrupted, terrorist attacks take 12,000 lives annually worldwide, and jihadist terrorist ideology continues to spread. How? Largely by going online and adopting a new method of organization. Terrorist structures, traditionally consisting of loose-net cells, divisions, and subgroups, are ideally suited for flourishing on the Internet through websites, e-mail, chat rooms, e-groups, forums, virtual message boards, YouTube, Google Earth, and other outlets. Terrorist websites, including social media platforms, now number close to 10,000. This book addresses three major questions: why and how terrorism went online; what recent trends can be discerned—such as engaging children and women, promoting lone wolf attacks, and using social media; and what future threats can be expected, along with how they can be reduced or countered. To answer these questions, Terrorism in Cyberspace analyzes content from more than 9,800 terrorist websites, and Weimann, who has been studying terrorism online since 1998, selects the most important kinds of web activity, describes their background and history, and surveys their content in terms of kind and intensity, the groups and prominent individuals involved, and effects. He highlights cyberterrorism against financial, governmental, and engineering infrastructure; efforts to monitor, manipulate, and disrupt terrorists' online efforts; and threats to civil liberties posed by ill-directed efforts to suppress terrorists' online activities as future, worrisome trends.
This book investigates the intersection of terrorism, digital technologies and cyberspace. The evolving field of cyber-terrorism research is dominated by single-perspective, technological, political, or sociological texts. In contrast, Terrorism Online uses a multi-disciplinary framework to provide a broader introduction to debates and developments that have largely been conducted in isolation. Drawing together key academics from a range of disciplinary fields, including Computer Science, Engineering, Social Psychology, International Relations, Law and Politics, the volume focuses on three broad themes: 1) how – and why – do terrorists engage with the Internet, digital technologies and cyberspace?; 2) what threat do these various activities pose, and to whom?; 3) how might these activities be prevented, deterred or addressed? Exploring these themes, the book engages with a range of contemporary case studies and different forms of terrorism: from lone-actor terrorists and protest activities associated with ‘hacktivist’ groups to state-based terrorism. Through the book’s engagement with questions of law, politics, technology and beyond, the volume offers a holistic approach to cyberterrorism which provides a unique and invaluable contribution to this subject matter. This book will be of great interest to students of cybersecurity, security studies, terrorism and International Relations.
This book explores the interface between terrorism and the internet and presents contemporary approaches to understanding violent extremism online. The volume focuses on four issues in particular: terrorist propaganda on the internet; radicalisation and the internet; counter campaigns and approaches to disrupting internet radicalisation; and approaches to researching and understanding the role of the internet in radicalisation. The book brings together expertise from a wide range of disciplines and geographical regions including Europe, the US, Canada and Australia. These contributions explore the various roles played by the Internet in radicalisation; the reasons why terroristic propaganda may or may not influence others to engage in violence; the role of political conflict in online radicalisation; and the future of research into terrorism and the internet. By covering this broad range of topics, the volume will make an important and timely addition to the current collections on a growing and international subject. This book will be of much interest to students and researchers of cyber-security, internet politics, terrorism studies, media and communications studies, and International Relations.
Drawing on a seven-year study of the World Wide Web and a wide variety of literature, the author examines how modern terrorist organizations exploit the Internet to raise funds, recruit, and propagandize, as well as to plan and launch attacks and to publicize their chilling results.
Terrorist use of the Internet has become a focus of media, policy, and scholarly attention in recent years. Terrorists use the Internet in a variety of ways, the most important being for propaganda purposes and operations-related content, but it is also potentially a means or target of attack. This book presents revised versions of a selection of papers delivered at the NATO Advanced Research Workshop (ARW) on ‘Terrorists’ Use of the Internet’ held in Dublin, Ireland in June 2016. One aim of the workshop was to nurture dialogue between members of the academic, policy and practitioner communities, so the 60 delegates from 13 countries who attended the workshop included representatives from each of these. The participants encompassed a wide range of expertise (including engineering, computer science, law, criminology, political science, international relations, history, and linguistics) and the chapters contained herein reflect these diverse professional and disciplinary backgrounds. The workshop also aimed to address the convergence of threats. Following an introduction which provides an overview of the various ways in which terrorists use the Internet, the book’s remaining 25 chapters are grouped into 5 sections on cyber terrorism and critical infrastructure protection; cyber-enabled terrorist financing; jihadi online propaganda; online counterterrorism; and innovative approaches and responses. The book will be of interest to all those who need to maintain an awareness of the ways in which terrorists use the Internet and require an insight into how the threats posed by this use can be countered.
