Physical security: An introduction

Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are extending the arena within which extremists and terrorists operate. Among the most active participants are Islamists and the Far Right, whose increasingly networked formats are enhanced by such technologies. These provide them with new benefits: interconnectivity; anonymity; cheapness; power enhancement; new audiences. Islamists and Jihadists are turning to the Internet to recruit, and to issue religious injunctions to the world-wide Muslim community. The stealthy growth of the U.S. militias was aided by the Internet, and white supremacists and neo-Nazis in the U.S., Europe, and elsewhere increasingly see it as the last communication medium free of interference, and which they can use to best effect. Although all use it to communicate, they are poised to use it for command and control.