An ex-Israeli security chief says Big Data and Data Analyticssomething the U.S. military has been focusing onhave been widely used by the Israeli military and intelligence agencies to track down enemies of the Israeli state, including several senior Hamas leaders killed during the Israeli incursion into Gaza Strip last summer. He stressed that the flood of unstructured data in the form of video, images, text and speeches has been utilized to the Israeli military to track down and kill enemies. What can the European Union and other countries in the world learn from this approach?
The NSA to check their Effectiveness
Spying on the whole world doesn’t come cheap, but the actual figures are top secret. Leaked information, however, has revealed that the so-called black budget’ amounted to 52.6 billion dollars for 2013 fiscal year. Out of that pie, over 10 billion went to the NSA. Yet sources say terrorist detection methods only involve NSA surveillance 7.5 percent of the time. RT’s Gayane Chichakyan looks into the agency’s effectiveness.
The Impact of Big Data and Predictive Analytics on Security
The ways in which Big Data is revolutionizing business are much discussed. However, less appreciated are the possible implications for security and intelligence. In the future, it may become possible to confidently predict terrorist activity by combining observations from sources such as social media activity, internet searches, shopping habits and smartphone location:
People (terrorists too) are generating more and more data – From their smartphones, appliances, satellites, terminals, cameras and a range of other sensors on vehicles and machinery. Anything people do online can be traced, stored and analyzed- Big Data analytics allows for prediction – Predictive analytics encompasses a variety of statistical techniques from modeling, machine learning and data mining that analyze current and historical facts to make predictions about future, or otherwise unknown, events
- With predictive analytics we can anticipate security threats and terrorist behavior – Several police forces already analyze Twitter and text messages as part of their activities to anticipate terrorism and use predictive policing algorithms to decide where officers should patrol by analyzing what areas typically see what terrorist behavior at what time of day
- Predictive analytics in terrorism prevention will have a profound impact on our society and democratic rights – Predictive analytics based on Big Data is about correlation, not causation. Even when algorithms are highly accurate at linking patterns of behavior to future acts of terrorism, there will still be innocently intentioned individuals who match these patterns of behavior only through coincidence
Predictive analytics could significantly decrease the incidence of terrorism and make the world a safer place but only if we can find ways to minimize the risk of misuse and undesired side effects.
Below please find cases of Big Data and other measures in the fight against global terrorism.
Israel – Big Data is Key to Anti-Terrorist Fight
The former head of the Israel Security Agency’s IT unit, Ronen Horowitz, said that Big Data and Data Analyticssomething the U.S. military has been focusing onhave been widely used by the Israeli military and intelligence agencies to track down enemies of the Israeli state, including several senior Hamas leaders killed during the Israeli incursion into Gaza Strip last summer.
“I am telling you with certainty that quite a few dead terrorists are looking at us from the sky owing to Big Data capabilities”, he explained in his first interview since leaving the intelligence agency last October.
Horowitz stressed that the flood of unstructured data in the form of video, images, text and speeches has been utilized to the Israeli military to track down and kill enemies. “A lot is being invested in technologies that attempt to utilize the information and convert it into something that may be analyzed in the Big Data and then submit to the analysts only what had been graded highly so that he or she may process it”.
Surrounded by enemies and based on the recent disclosures by Horowitz, the Israel Security Agency appears to be a step ahead in terms of leveraging Big Data to fight against terrorism.
EU – Counter Terrorism Measures go in all Directions
The European Union wants to launch counter terrorism alliances with several Muslim countries to boost cooperation in the wake of deadly attacks and arrests across Europe. The challenge however is to streamline all counter terrorism measures in the EU, since they go in all directions. Moreover, only member countries are equipped with intelligence services and can assess the security threat. Following is an overview of measures taken in across the EU:
- France – Segregating Islamic-militant prisoners and stronger information-gathering measures such as Passenger Name Records, or PNR, a single registry of air traffic data
- Belgium – Wiretapping. The legal framework in which the judiciary can authorize wiretapping is being made more flexible, so that wiretaps can be performed more quickly. Other measures include the freezing of assets of foreign fighters and stripping terrorist fighters of their Belgian nationality
- Germany – Withdraw the personal identification cards of potentially violent extremists for a much longer period than was initially planned, additional mobile communication frequencies for German security authorities and the Bundeswehr, Germanys military
- UK – Give intelligence agencies more powers to track Internet and smartphone data
- Italy – Application of measures of personal prevention that the police will use against people under suspicion of terrorism, reinforce controls on the web through specific actions, such as the creation of a blacklist of suspected pro-jihad websites
- Spain – Changing Schengens rules to allow some border checks aimed at those people about whom there is a clear risk or a real suspicion that they could be terrorists
Measurements range from the confiscation of travel documents of people considered dangerous, to speeding up agreements for the exchange of traffic data of passengers, and strengthening, or reforming the borderless Schengen Area. Clearly Big Data is on the rise in all information related methods. I tend to believe that Big Data will stop terrorism within the next ten to twenty years if executed well.
My Takeaway
Starting with a short video about the ineffectiveness of the NSA, this post takes you to the impact of Big Data and Predictive Analytics on our security. A case from the Israel military shows you the impact of Big Data on counter terrorism. Europe has a diverse approach on anti-terror measures, but will gradually do more with Big Data. Also, read my post on Big Data-driven crime fighting. Feel free to share this post within your network.
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