Retracted: Exploring the Evolution of Terrorist Network
This paper discusses advancements and new trends in terrorist networks. We investigate a case regarding a recent terror plan that took place in Denmark and we present the analysis of the thwarted plot. Analyzing covert networks after an incident is practi
- PDF / 531,980 Bytes
- 15 Pages / 439.37 x 666.142 pts Page_size
- 19 Downloads / 186 Views
R
et
ra
ct
ed
Abstract This paper discusses advancements and new trends in terrorist networks. We investigate a case regarding a recent terror plan that took place in Denmark and we present the analysis of the thwarted plot. Analyzing covert networks after an incident is practically easy for trial purposes. Mapping clandestine networks to thwarted terrorist activities is much more complicated. The network involved in the recent Danish terror plan is studied through publicly available information. Based on that information we mapped a part of the network centered on David Headley, who recently confessed to have planned a terrorist attack to take place on Danish soil. Despite its deficiencies, the map gives us an insight into new trends in terrorist organizations and people involved in terrorist plots.
N. Memon () Counterterrorism Research Lab, The Maersk Mc-Kinney Moller Institute, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark and Hellenic American University, Manchester, NH, USA e-mail: [email protected] U.K. Wiil P.A.R. Qureshi Counterterrorism Research Lab, The Maersk Mc-Kinney Moller Institute, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark e-mail: [email protected]; [email protected] P. Karampelas Hellenic Air Force Academy, Athens, Greece and Hellenic American University, Manchester, NH, USA e-mail: [email protected] U.K. Wiil (ed.), Counterterrorism and Open Source Intelligence, Lecture Notes in Social Networks 2, DOI 10.1007/978-3-7091-0388-3 20, © Springer-Verlag/Wien 2011
413
414
N. Memon et al.
1 Introduction
R
et
ra
ct
ed
The events of 9/11 instantly changed the perception of the words “terrorist” and “network”, and the United States and other countries rapidly started to gear up to fight a new kind of war against a new kind of enemy. In conventional warfare, conducted in specific locations, it is important to understand the terrain in which the battles will be fought. In the war against terror, there is no specific location and time. After 9/11, we know that the battleground can be anywhere and at any time. It is now clear that the terrorists’ power base is not geographic; rather, they operate in networks, with members distributed across the globe. To fight such an enemy, we need to understand the new “terrain”: networks – how they are constructed and how they operate. Advanced and emerging information technologies like investigative data mining (IDM) offer key assets in confronting a secretive, asymmetric networked enemy. IDM is a powerful tool for intelligence and law enforcement agencies fighting terrorism [12]. IDM is a combination of data mining and subject-based automated data analysis techniques. Data mining is an approach which uses algorithms to discover predictive patterns in datasets. Subject-based automated data analysis applies models to data to predict behavior, assess risk, determine associations, or perform other types of analysis [13]. How can we mine terrorist networks? Traditional methods of machine learning and data mining, taking a random sample of homogen
Data Loading...
