How terrorists are adapting to cyberspace and what policymakers can do about it!
How jihadist terrorist organizations are changing: The line between ideological jihadist terrorism and criminality is becoming increasingly unclear. Unlike their earlier counterparts, many contemporary jihadists have not been radicalized and motivated to become operational over a long period of time. Instead, many demonstrate little adherence to Islam up to a week before their attacks. Many have been criminals known to police and often living at the margins of society. The organization and ideology act like a gang — attracting recruits through their powerful narrative whilst offering redemption from past sins through jihadist struggle. Contemporary recruitment patterns therefore present a different set of problems to their predecessors in terms of the collection and analysis of information. A second key feature of newer iterations of global jihadist terrorism is their low signature. Compared with prior iterations characterized by training camps and top down organizational structures, c...