Lawrence Peter Ampofo
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- Chapter Six: Cybercrime, Terrorism and Counter-Terrorism in Spain
ConclusionThe traditional media, as well as internet and Web technologies, play a central role in the activities of contemporary terrorist organisations. From the use of broadcast television and radio to disseminate news of attacks and statements, to the creation of sophisticated online multimedia content, to purpose-built digital portals and discussion forums, it is clear that 21st century terrorist organisations are extremely dependent on media technologies to remain effective (Bobbitt, 2008). However, this chapter has also shown that media corporations in turn can be perceived to use terrorist attacks as a means of furthering their own political agendas. The relationship between the media and terrorist organisations is and always has been abundantly clear (Jenkins, 1974). However, what is less comprehensible is the relationship between the development of media technologies and the communication strategies of terrorist organisations. Traditional terrorist acts are communicative and part of a wider strategy, broadcasted using traditional media channels (Jenkins, 1974, 1975). Nevertheless, the development of information and communication technologies, particularly the internet and Web 2.0, has seen terrorist organisations build closer relationships with their target audiences. There is potential for terrorists to build stronger relationships with their target audiences across national borders, and it is possible that the organisations will decide to use less violence and more persuasion to advance their goals, something that was argued strongly by the scholar Jonathan Githens-Mazer who claimed that “with the increase in technology, you’re not seeing a commensurate decrease in attacks which I think is quite telling in and of itself in some ways.”67 What is suggested is that the Spanish Government is rapidly losing the battle for ideas online as flat, networked, interconnected organisations such as terrorist groups use electronic communications more adroitly than vertical, hierarchical government actors, insofar as the mere continued circulation of their narratives produced terror.68 Ultimately, media technologies, as a force-multiplier of terrorist organisations, have the potential to change terrorist organisations from agents of violence to agents of influence, defined as those people who have the ability to affect the attitudes and behaviours of other online users, through the effective use of narratives and engagement. While the prospect of less violence might seem appealing to governments, the fact that some people find the ideas of terrorist organisations more palatable gives great cause for concern. Evidence for this is seen in the emergence of narratives such as ‘Attacks influenced voter decision’, which was the sixth most frequently mentioned narrative in the dataset. As a result, scholars have come to the realisation that the Government is losing the battle for ideas with terrorist organisations and should re-assess its counter-terrorism strategy (Soriano, 2010, Waldmann, 2006). Chapter Six: Cybercrime, Terrorism and Counter-Terrorism in SpainIntroductionThe commensuration of cybercrime, terrorism and counter-terrorism in Spain as a social process is an increasingly prescient issue that is of concern in certain epistemic communities. The European Commission writes: ‘The rapid development of Internet and other information systems has given rise to a completely new economic sector…This has opened many new possibilities for criminals. A pattern of new criminal activities against the Internet, or with the use of information systems as a criminal tool, is clearly discernible. These criminal activities are in permanent evolution, and legislation and operational law enforcement have obvious difficulties in keeping pace’ (Europa, 2007: 1). The proclivity for terrorist organisations to use the internet and the Web in specific ways to help them achieve their strategic objectives was outlined in greater detail in Chapters Four and Five in which it was supported by scholars such as Conway, (2005, 2008), Wiemann (2007, 2008), Denning, (2003), Arquilla and Rondfeldt (1999, 2003) and Colin (2003), amongst others. Examples include the tendency to use the internet for recruitment, propaganda, fund raising, data mining and information gathering (Wilton Park, 2011). In addition, the conclusions derived from the research process and semi-structured interviews conducted indicated that cybercrime is a significant concern for the Spanish security services and private cybersecurity companies in equal measure. This phenomenon was outlined by the Spanish cybercrime expert Carles Fragoso who argued that terrorist organisations utilise cybercrime techniques to achieve their strategic objectives, thereby posing particular problems to the Government and private companies alike: “It is a fear that technology is being used ever more by terrorists to conduct their operations. The positive points of technology in the real world in reality also benefit the criminal world or the world of cyberterrorism in aspects such as flexibility and location. Technology also permits in particular an exchange of information that is more fluid and convenient with access from remote devices that occurs instantly”. 69 As outlined above by Fragoso, the use of internet and Web technologies to facilitate the activities of terrorist organisations is problematic for Government and private organisations involved in countering them. Indeed, as will be analysed in this chapter, a similar sentiment has been outlined by the scholars Philip Bobbitt (2008) and Thomas P.M. Barnett (2005) in their analyses on the nature of contemporary terrorist organisations, the relevance of which is described in detail in Chapter Two. This chapter offers the first analysis of the relationship between cybercrime, terrorism and counter-terrorism in Spain. It uses the theoretical framework of commensuration as a social process as a lens. Through the findings of the semi-structured interviews and analysis of the nature of online behaviour and discussion concerning cybercrime and the 11 March 2004 terrorist attacks in Madrid, it becomes apparent that understandings of cybercrime, terrorism and counter-terrorism are intrinsically bound within understandings of immigration, technology and terrorism. This chapter seeks to examine the dualism between terrorist organisations and criminal organisations in the 21st century and the ways in which the two types of organisation use similar tactics to reach their stated goals. It also explores the extent to which understandings exist between cybercrime, technology, terrorism and counter-terrorism in Spain. An analysis of this topic will shed light on the extent to which the issue of cybercrime is linked with terrorism and counter-terrorism in the region and whether the availability of new technologies increases the capacities of terrorist and counter-terrorist agencies to achieve their communication objectives. This chapter will also explore the extent to which new internet and Web technologies such as Web 3.0 will ameliorate or deteriorate the ability of terrorist organisations to achieve their strategic objectives using cybercrime. In addition, this chapter will elucidate how, in the 21st century, the two issues of cybercrime and terrorism form a close-knit, intricate relationship. It will conclude that the conflation of terrorist organisations utilising criminal methods via information and communications technology has had the effect of enhancing their online influence, becoming in the process an increasingly problematic entity for the Spanish Government to counter, thereby justifying the use of commensuration as a social process to more easily conceptualise the issues. Directory: portal -> files -> 4733003 files -> Impact case study (ref3b) files -> Ethics and Factual Television: a short history files -> P. O. Box 27, 00014 University of Helsinki, Finland tel. 358-9-191 58080 / 22216; fax 358-9-191 58096 / 23008 files -> The impact of a pledge campaign and the promise of publicity: a randomized controlled trial of charitable donations files -> Diversity and Voice: the Political Participation of Young People in the European Union files -> Chapter 15 a voice in Decision Making: young children in Denmark Stig Broström Introduction Download 1.29 Mb. 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