High-Tech Terrorism

“New technologies allow terrorists to communicate efficiently, broaden their message, and wield unconventional weapons in unexpected ways,” (Martin, 2013). With the internet and rapidly advancing sciences and technology terrorists have become even a larger threat than before. The first category of new high-tech methods is information technologies. This consists of computers, the internet, e-mail, and social networking sites. Cyberterrorism has become a central feature in many of the terrorist cells and groups. “Today, almost all active terrorist organizations (which number more than forty) maintain websites, and many organizations maintain more than one website and use several different languages,” (Weimann, 2004). According to a study done by the United States Institute of Peace, there are eight different ways in which terrorists use the internet.
The first is psychological warfare, which is the use of threats and misinformation to believe the person(s) are in danger. Next is publicity and propaganda. “Terrorists now have direct control of their message…[enabling them] to manipulate their own image and the image of their enemies,” (Weimann, 2004). Data mining is the next way terrorists use the internet. They scour the internet searching out information on their enemy, most of it for free. In addition, fundraising is particularly popular on the terrorist websites. They offer pages were a person can make credit card donations or they manipulate users’ sympathy for a certain cause to get them to donate. Terrorists also use the internet for recruitment and mobilization purposes. “Recruiters…roam online chat rooms and cybercafés, looking for receptive members of the public, particularly young people,” (Weimann, 2004).
In continuance, terrorists are networking through the internet. The terrorist groups are moving away from the hierarchy system and are breaking up into smaller cells that are connecting through the internet. The next way terrorists are using the

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