16 January 2008

Cyberterrorist 007

Interesting piece on the use of the internet to recruit and organise , alleging that individual actions too can be organised via the internet, avoiding face to face encounters. This piece fits in with the general argument that both organised crime and terrorism have moved away from solid hierarchical structures to networks and now to individuals linked only by communication through various internet technologies.
Of course, there are those who long argued that hierarchical structures were mythical and that the President's Task Force on Organised crime in the late 1960s chose the wrong model. Indeed more recently, Petrus van Duyne and Klaus von Lampe have argued that cross-border smuggling networks are much more informal than both criminologists and investigators believed. This next step presents legal problems, especially in distinguishing innocent activity from criminal activity. For the moment, guilt is assumed and innocence has to be proved.
The piece also illustrates how the concept of "cyberterrorism" continues to develop

1 comment:

Smokey said...

UK Home Secretary Jacqui Smith proposes taking an approach to preventing radicalisation drawn from the experience of paedophile use of the Internet to "groom" victims: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7193049.stm

Would need to look at the original press release to see if the spin placed on the report is hers or the journalist's