Social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, as well as specialized social networks and encrypted messaging apps have come under attack for facilitating violent extremism and serving as violent ideology laboratories
For much of the past decade, Ravi Satkalmi has helped lead the New York City Police Department’s (NYPD) Intelligence Analysis Unit, a team within the NYPD’s Intelligence Bureau that provides critical support on counterterrorism investigations, analyzes foreign and domestic terrorist threats to the city, offers input on policies pertaining to counterterrorism, and liaises with law enforcement and private sector partners.
In 2007, Aon’s Global Risk Management Survey identified reputational risk as the top concern for global enterprises. A decade later, in the latest such survey by Aon, “damage to reputation/brand” retained its number one spot among more than 50 other categories of risks.
Security leaders should consider investing in analysts dedicated to workplace violence prevention and threat assessment for three major reasons: the issue is becoming a greater concern, the subject matter is becoming more complicated, and small programs are becoming bigger.
The surge in demand for intelligence programs and intelligence-oriented global security operations centers (GSOCs) and virtual security operations centers (VSOCs) has not emerged out of thin air. In fact, it has been driven by changing corporate security concerns, which themselves have been shaped by the fears of corporate leaders.
Go to any security conference and you’ll be quick to discover that getting “buy-in” and maintaining a “seat at the table” are still the predominant concerns among security leaders. After all, unlike other business units that bring in revenue directly, corporate security must show that it is not merely a cost center but a cost- (and sometimes a life-) saver.
In March, the European Commission demanded that tech firms remove terrorist posts within one hour of their appearance. Similar calls have come from corporations and commentators, alike. These forms of pressure are important but focused only on the problem of social media serving as a tool for spreading violent ideas and propaganda. Disturbingly, social media use itself may be predisposing individuals to commit terrorism, shootings and other forms of violence by impacting user behavior and well-being.
