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Tech & Terror

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DQI Bureau
New Update

More than 2,900 people died in the September 11 attacks in 2001. The 7/11

blasts on Mumbai trains took the lives of more than 200 innocents this year.

Last year, Delhi reeled under the blasts at the Sarojini Nagar Market, which

killed about 60 people.

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Terror creators use technology for their ends. And the only way to combat

that-is with technology. Security agencies are gearing up for this, but in

many cases far too slowly.

NBC TV reported in June this year how forensic software created by a company

called Guidance Software in Pasadena, is being used by various military and

intelligence outfits to unravel terror trails. The software supports Arabic and

has helped solve many cases. According to NBC, digital media found from the

bombed safehouse of Abu Masab al Zaqawi, has helped the intelligence outfits

open 200 related investigations. The software was also used in several other

investigations as well, including the one to trace the murderers of Daniel

Pearl. British agencies use a solution called Ibas for the same purposes.

RFID chips

in US passports might create a revolution in tackling terror... but, they

might also lead terrorists to their victims
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Intelligence agencies also have to make use of translation software to be

able to decipher content with cross-cultural terrorism. Language Weaver is one

example of such software which can translate many different languages, including

Russian, Chinese, Arabic into English, even if it is on air. Many more languages

and dialects are yet to be cracked by software, so defense agencies are still

scouting in deaf alleys, as they can't tell what is being communicated.

Link analysis software has been around for a while and has been used in

identifying terrorists. This looks for all the records pertaining to a said

person, past and present. It not only helps an analyst to trace the perpetrator

but also helps to share information with another analyst. The FBI has its own

database called Investigative Data Warehouse, which has more than 650 million

records of intelligence communications to terrorist watch lists, etc. Now it

also has a search tool to wade through this information. Similarly, in Seattle,

the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory developed the Starlight program to

search through a mine of information and give patterns of association.

Meanwhile every new terror strike anywhere in the world first sees its impact

on global travelers. Unending security checks and stringent regulations are the

rule. RFID might show the way out. The US is introducing RFID chips in US

passports this month onward. With features that include transmission of the

name, nationality, sex, date of birth and a digitized photograph of the holder,

this can create a revolution in tackling terror, by effectively combining it

with databases of terrorists around the world. The US government is certain that

the info on the passport cannot be cloned, so it's secure that way. But there

is a flip side to it. A US tourist in a foreign land could be similarly

identified by terrorists and made a terror victim.

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The Internet has made our lives easy, but it has made the lives of terrorists

easy as well. They use it to spread messages and propaganda, recruit new people,

raise funds, networking, planning and coordination, and so on. They even post

handbooks for budding terrorists! According to an Al Qaeda training manual

recovered in Afghanistan, “Using public sources openly and without resorting

to illegal means, it is possible to gather at least 80 percent of all

information required about the enemy.”

If we have the technology, they have it too. Who is winning the race?

Security agencies need to keep their methodologies under wraps. But clearly, the

efforts that are visible do not inspire enough confidence. At least, not so far.

The author is editor-in-chief of CyberMedia, the publisher of Dataquest. He

can be reached at shyamm@cybermedia.co.in

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