Summary
This report examines the defensive technologies — the systems and approaches deployed to protect an area and its citizens from terrorism – that are used by governments, and how terrorist groups respond and counter. The five categories of technologies discussed are: 1. Information acquisition and management; 2. Denial (e.g. radio-detonator jamming, antimissile systems, systems designed to prevent terrorist access to money, weapons, etc.); 3. Preventive action (e.g. target hardening); 4. Response (technologies designed to defeat operations in progress, mitigate damage, etc.); and 5. Investigation (e.g. forensic investigative and identification techniques. Terrorist efforts to counter these technologies are illustrated by case studies of Palestinian terrorist groups, the Tamil Tigers, and the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) and affiliated groups in southeast Asia.
Contents
1. Introduction. -- 1.1. Defensive technologies and the effort to combat terrorism. -- 1.2. Terrorist efforts to overcome defensive technologies. -- 2. Palestinian terrorist groups. -- 3. Jemaah Islamiyah and affiliated groups. -- 4. Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. -- 5. Provisional Irish Republican Army. -- 6. Conclusions: understanding terrorists' counter-technology efforts. -- 6.1. Terrorist strategies for countering defensive technologies. -- 6.2. Transferability of terrorist counter-technology strategies. -- 6.3. Implications of terrorist counter-technology activities for Homeland Security efforts. -- In conclusion: the role of technology in combating terrorism.