{"id":57736,"date":"2015-11-24T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2015-11-23T22:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/richardvanhooijdonk.com\/blog\/digital-warfare-terrorism-of-the-future-part-1\/"},"modified":"2024-12-19T22:13:46","modified_gmt":"2024-12-19T20:13:46","slug":"digital-warfare-terrorism-of-the-future-part-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.richardvanhooijdonk.com\/en\/digital-warfare-terrorism-of-the-future-part-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Digital warfare – terrorism of the future – part 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

“Government services are slow and bureaucratic and there is no communication or collaboration, whether nationally or internationally. They are unable to keep up with the exponential speed of technological developments which enable terrorists to commit attacks.”<\/p>\n

Last week\u2019s terrorist attack in Paris was awful. And, of course, everyone suddenly has an opinion or a solution. Rotterdam\u2019s mayor Aboutaleb suggested we eliminate all 50,000 IS fighters in one go. France immediately sent ten F-16 planes to bomb IS capital Raqqa. We will see a winter of bombings. Even England, Australia and Russia are following suit with stern language. Out of 50,000 fighters, more than 10,000 are located in terrorist cells scattered throughout the world. As the attacks draw nearer to Europe, we will see an increase in the number of cells to be eliminnated. These are groups of Jihadis who, via the Internet or mobile communication, receive encrypted messages with orders to attack. For months or even years, they can live among us as ordinary citizens, a pleasant neighbour or good friend. As wolves in sheep\u2019s clothing, almost impossible to find. Will Europe or the Netherlands still be able to provide safe havens for us in the future? Are our security services able to protect us?<\/p>\n

As a trendwatcher and futurist, my days are filled with exploring technology trends and their impact on people, businesses, governments and therefore also terrorism. After the Paris attacks last weekend we\u2019re all talking about extremism and terrorism again; on radio and TV as well as in blogs, newspapers and magazines. We talk about border security, bombing IS, the victims and the fear of it happening again. What hardly seems to be a topic of discussion, however, is the terrorists\u2019 biggest friend and ally: digital – the backbone of IS and the foundation for terrorist operations. But digital is also the basis for fighting terrorism. Intelligence and investigation services; it is an almost incomprehensible cat-and-mouse game. This article provides an overview of the digital technology deployed to combat terrorism and, indeed, to protect us.<\/p>\n

\"Computer
\nSource: NeydtStock \/ Shutterstock.com<\/a><\/p>\n

We\u2019re all aware of the rapid development of new technology; robots, drones, sensors, big data, Internet of Things, bio and nanotech and 3D printing. The speed at which technology is developing today is unprecedented. Meanwhile, Moore’s Law has been defeated and computer chips are now 3,500 times smaller, 60,000 times faster and contain 19,000 times more energy. In the next five years we\u2019ll see even faster acceleration in these developments than we\u2019ve experienced in the past 50 years, allowing for more opportunities to combat terrorism, but it will also enable prolific growth of terrorism itself.<\/p>\n

Related lecture: Trends! On to 2030<\/a><\/p>\n

Technology to fight terrorists<\/h2>\n

We have many interesting techniques at our disposal to fight terrorism; some techniques are still being developed while others are already used on a small scale. Below is an overview of the technologies investigative organisations should deploy in order to protect the world from terrorism.<\/p>\n