According to the head of CIA who stated on Friday that social media websites and relevant technologies are making it very difficult to battle militants who are being aided by these state-of-the-art methods to share information and execute their operations
John Brennan, CIA Director has stated in a speech in New York that these modes of communications elevates the challenges to deal with threats and attacks all over the globe from groups such as Islamic State (ISIS).
Brennan said, “New technologies can help groups like ISIL coordinate operations, attract new recruits, disseminate propaganda, and inspire sympathizers across the globe to act in their name.”
“The overall threat of terrorism is greatly amplified by today’s interconnected world, where an incident in one corner of the globe can instantly spark a reaction thousands of miles away; and where a lone extremist can go online and learn how to carry out an attack without ever leaving home,” Brennan said.
He has spoken at the Council on Foreign Relations, quoting recent attacks like shootings in France at the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, the massacre at a school in Peshawar, Pakistan, and at a café in Copenhagen.
“These attacks underscore a disturbing trend that we have been monitoring for some time: The emergence of a terrorist threat that is increasingly decentralized, difficult to track, and difficult to thwart,” he said.
Brennan has stated that US agencies have already enhanced their efforts to fight against cyber-threats, but unfortunately the people committed to terrorism have further advanced their usage of technology.
Islamic State Militants have employed social media to turn itself into a global movement which draws the attention of recruits in areas like Syria and Iraq.
“This phenomenon now has generated a lot of appeal”, Brennan said. “We see these different franchises … that are trying to get on the bandwagon of this phenomenon and so this is a worrisome sort of global movement”, and requires a broad response.
Brennan has stated that a variety of strategies, along with monitoring social media, were essential to lending a hand in identifying threats.
“We need to have a better sense of what’s happening in the streets. And that’s why looking at social media and other things you can maybe have a better sense of the barometric conditions in a country that are going to be more conducive to the forming of a storm.”
Steven Myers
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2 Comments
Gr8 one!!! It is true as Mr. Brennan said. The social networking media should. Be tapped and monitored. The user id registration should be very stringent just like passport!!!
Brennan can claim social media is a problem but what does he say about the CIA providing $millions to al Qaeda?? How long has this gone on? Why does the CIA fund al Qaeda?