Intelligence tactics in the fight against lone-wolves

Lone-wolf attacks have turned into a nightmare for security and intelligence agencies everywhere.

These attacks are different from conventional terrorist attacks in that they are carried out by individuals and do not require the presence of a command center.

This is why these attacks are challenging to intelligence and security agencies, which in most cases fail to take preventive action against them.

The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (aka Daesh, ISIS, and ISIL) succeeded in staging several lone-wolf attacks in Europe. The terrorist organization resorted to lone-wolves, after failing in staging traditional terrorist attacks because of tight security measures in European states.

Daesh mainly depends on these attacks for several reasons. Lone-wolf attacks do not require a lot of funding. To be carried out, these attacks do not require a lot of personnel. They are also difficult to track or prevent by security and intelligence agencies.

Who are the lone-wolves?

Lone-wolf attacks are not new in Europe. The terrorist Taliban movement utilized these attacks in their war against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in the mid-1990s.

The attacks benefited greatly from the digital revolution. Lone-wolves are mere introverts who carry out attacks on their free will, without orders from a central command.

Islamist organizations used these attacks to carry out operations far away from their strongholds and areas of control. Nonetheless, European radicals used lone-wolves, even before these Islamist organizations did. In 2011, Norwegian right-wing extremist Anders Behring Breivik used a booby-trapped car to stage an attack outside a government headquarters in Oslo. He then opened fire on a summer camp of the Workers’ Youth League, killing 77 people.

Becoming a lone-wolf

Ordinary people become lone-wolves for several reasons. These reasons include the social environment in which they live, the type of friends they have and the type of families they have too. Government policies, personal experiences, racism, the internet and economic and cultural developments also decide whether a person will buy into terrorist ideas.

Internet

The internet plays a very important role in the lives of lone-wolves. This internet gives terrorist organizations the chance to communicate with individuals anywhere in the world.

Daesh published its lone-wolf attacks’ manual to offer tips to sympathizers who want to stage lone-wolf attacks in their countries. The manual contained advice on avoiding arrest and preventing suspicions. One of the tips Daesh offered its would-be wolves was that they needed to stay away from wearing an Islamic garb. It advised them not to wear their watches in their right hands. It also asked its sympathizers to wear a cross or a necklace with a photo of Jesus Christ on it, especially if these sympathizers are not called Islamic names like Mohamed or Oussama.

Challenges

Intelligence and security agencies always have difficulty anticipating lone-wolf attacks. This is why they are always a nightmare for these agencies. Here are the challenges connected with lone-wolf attacks:

• Ability to hide

Lone-wolves can easily deceive security and intelligence agencies. One reason why this is true is that a lone-wolf can be anybody: a neighbor, a friend or a schoolmate. Lone-wolves avoid communication with the terrorist organizations they belong to. This prevents security and intelligence agencies from suspecting them.

• Complications

Extremist right-wing groups are active in some European states. These groups stage anti-government protests every now and then. The resultant chaos makes it hard for security agencies to differentiate between political activists in this regard and terrorists who are out on the streets to stage attacks. Sometimes, demonstrators and terrorists are involved in the same thing, namely violence. Terrorist groups, however, kill innocent people on purpose.

• Other side of democracy and free speech

Free speech and democracy in Western countries, in general, and in the European Union, in particular, make security agencies hand-tied, especially when it comes to the desire to interrogate suspects. There are also several free speech mechanisms and tools that are harmful to public interests. These conditions made the same countries a fertile soil for the growth of radical organizations.

• Digital revolution

The digital revolution made terrorist attacks more complex. It is very difficult for intelligence and security agencies to track terrorist organizations in the virtual world. The internet is also a rich place for knowledge about terrorist attacks, the making of explosive devices and weapons. It also eased communication between terrorist groups and potential recruits.

• Ideological and organization connections

Lone-wolves act as independently when it comes to planning and financing. This makes it difficult for security and intelligence agencies to discover them. Most of the Daesh lone-wolves did not travel to either Syria or Iraq. They get inspiration from the media and radical internet forums. Lone-wolves are only ideologically connected with terrorist organizations. This means that some of the lone-wolves might not have communicated with these organizations at any point in their lives.

This makes it important for European governments to launch awareness campaigns for Muslim migrants and marginalized citizens. They should also integrate the poor into the rest of society. The governments also need to sabotage the propaganda of the terrorist organizations by presenting more convincing arguments to their citizens.

Intelligence tactics

Lone-wolf attacks make it necessary for intelligence and security agencies to use new tactics to prevent them. Traditional security and intelligence tactics are no longer effective in preventing those attacks.

Lone-wolves have turned into a major target for intelligence agencies around the world soon after the Charlie Hebdo attacks in French capital Paris in 2015.

Intelligence and security agencies in Europe and the United States work hard to collect information about potential lone-wolves, in their bid to prevent attacks before they happen.

The agencies took their crackdown on the lone-wolves to cyberspace. They tighten supervision on people returning from Iraq and Syria as well.

• Electronic crackdown

Intelligence and security agencies monitor content on the internet and then remove extremist one in order to prevent it from reaching vulnerable groups within the public.

According to Harleen Gambhir, a counterterrorism analyst at the Institute for the Study of War, Daesh has been trying to create a communications network inside Europe since 2014 with the aim of starting a lone-wolf campaign in the continent.

This is why European intelligence agencies are actively monitoring content on the internet. The same agencies remove content by terrorist organizations.

• Field supervision

Intelligence agencies trace terrorists by tightening supervision around radicals or those suspected of joining extremist organizations. The supervision also includes the relatives of these suspects, their friends and acquaintances. Counterterrorism experts believe that monitoring the relatives and the friends of potential lone-wolves can prevent attacks.

• Prevention and isolation

Intelligence agencies keep ordinary people away from those they suspect of being potential terrorists. Those terrorists include those returning from Syria and Iraq, especially those who fought within the ranks of Daesh and other terrorist organizations in the two war-torn countries.