{"id":13491,"date":"2024-04-10T05:29:00","date_gmt":"2024-04-10T04:29:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/citysecuritymagazine.com\/?p=13491"},"modified":"2024-03-19T14:55:46","modified_gmt":"2024-03-19T14:55:46","slug":"infiltration-insiders-and-terrorism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citysecuritymagazine.com\/counter-terrorism\/infiltration-insiders-and-terrorism\/","title":{"rendered":"Infiltration, insiders and terrorism"},"content":{"rendered":"

Infiltration insiders and terrorism<\/strong><\/h1>\n

In his 2004 treatise \u201cThe Management of Savagery\u201d Abu Baku Naji\u00a0 (the jihadist ideologue) advocated the infiltration of \u201cthe police forces, the armies, the different political parties, the newspapers, the Islamic groups, the petroleum companies, private security companies, sensitive civil institutions etc.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a new wave of radicalisation, driven by events in the Middle East and elsewhere, we would do well to consider this specific aspect of terrorism \u2013 the use of insiders.<\/p>\n

The concept of infiltrating the enemy is nothing new. Terrorists have used this to their advantage since time began. There are well- documented cases of Irish Republican groups using the tactic to target and murder (see Eamon Collins \u201cKilling Rage\u201d), or the case of Rajib Karim, who used his position in British Airways to plan a terrorist attack. Having a person inside a target organisation is self-evidently a good tactic from a terrorist perspective. Apart from mounting a terrorist attack, they can, by virtue of their access, carry out a whole range of activities useful to terrorists, such as gathering intelligence or assessing targets.<\/p>\n

What do we mean by the term \u201cinsiders\u201d? <\/strong><\/h4>\n

It gets bandied around and used to mean different things to different people. Perhaps the most useful definition refers to trust: \u201can insider is someone who betrays trust by behaving in potentially harmful ways\u201d. This definition is helpful as it encompasses anyone that has been granted access and is trusted \u2013 staff, contractors or those in the supply chain, \u2013 and it covers a wide scope of activity.<\/p>\n

They can abuse their position of trust to cause damage. Terrorists will sometimes try to infiltrate a target organisations; in other cases individuals will become insiders after they have joined. This is important to bear in mind when thinking about defending against insiders. Some controls and barriers will be more useful than others.<\/p>\n

There are a wide range of hostile actors and terrorist groups who have been energised by recent events. We should keep an open mind when considering the complex terrorist landscape and precisely when and where the threat may manifest itself \u2013 but it\u2019s certainly true that:<\/p>\n