Download or read book Analysis of Department of Defense Social Media Policy and Its Impact on Operational Security Facebook Twitter Instagram Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities and Threats SWOT Terrorism written by U. S. Military and published by . This book was released on 2017-04-15 with total page 92 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This unique book analyzes current DOD social media policy to determine how it can be changed to improve operational security. The emergence and rapid adoption of social media by society has forced the Department of Defense (DOD) to adapt, and ultimately develop and incorporate, social media policy into its cybersecurity strategy. While social media has influenced DOD strategy, it has also had a direct impact on the organization's operational security (OPSEC). DOD personnel using social media represent a potential OPSEC risk through the various ways and means in which they utilize social-networking platforms. In 2009, the DOD responded to this risk, in part, with a policy to regulate the use of social media. This project analyzes current DOD social media policy to determine how it can be changed to improve OPSEC. To address this issue, DOD social media policies from Army Cyber Command, Air Force Cyber Command, Fleet Cyber Command, and Marine Force Cyber Command were analyzed by performing an in-depth review and strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats analysis. CHAPTER I * INTRODUCTION * A. SOCIAL MEDIA AS A STRATEGIC RESOURCE * B. BACKGROUND * C. PURPOSE * D. RESEARCH QUESTIONS * E. SCOPE AND METHODOLOGY * F. ORGANIZATION OF THE STUDY * CHAPTER II * STRATEGIES AND POLICIES * A. NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY * B. NATIONAL SECURITY STRATEGY * C. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE STRATEGY * 1. Strategic Initiative I * 2. Strategic Initiative II * 3. Strategic Initiative III * 4. Strategic Initiative IV * 5. Strategic Initiative V * D. SOCIAL MEDIA POLICIES * 1. U.S. Strategic Command * 2. DOD Service Policies * CHAPTER III * METHODOLOGY AND ANALYSIS * A. METHODOLOGY * B. ANALYSIS * CHAPTER IV * FINDINGS, SUMMARY, AND RECOMMENDATIONS * A. FINDINGS * B. SUMMARY * 1. Strengths * 2. Weaknesses * 3. Opportunities * 4. Threats * C. RECOMMENDATIONS * 1. Guidance * 2. Oversight * 3. Training * D. AREAS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH

Download or read book Publications Combined The Role of Social Media in Crisis Data Collection By The Public And Private Sectors As A Strategic Asset And To Prevent Terrorism written by and published by Jeffrey Frank Jones. This book was released on 2018-09-07 with total page 1835 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Over 1,800 total pages ... Included publications: Social Media and the Policy-Making Process a Traditional Novel Interaction Social Media Principles Applied to Critical Infrastructure Information Sharing Trolling New Media: Violent Extremist Groups Recruiting Through Social Media An Initial Look at the Utility of Social Media as a Foreign Policy Tool Indicators of Suicide Found on Social Networks: Phase 1 Validating the FOCUS Model Through an Analysis of Identity Fragmentation in Nigerian Social Media Providing Focus via a Social Media Exploitation Strategy Assessing the Use of Social Media in a Revolutionary Environment Social Media Integration into State-Operated Fusion Centers and Local Law Enforcement: Potential Uses and Challenges Using Social Media Tools to Enhance Tacit Knowledge Sharing Within the USMC Social Media: Strategic Asset or Operational Vulnerability? Tweeting Napoleon and Friending Clausewitz: Social Media and the Military Strategist The U.S. Military and Social Media Balancing Social Media with Operations Security (OPSEC) in the 21st Century Division Level Social Media Understanding Violence Through Social Media The Investigation of Social Media Data Thresholds for Opinion Formation The Impact of Social Media on the Nature of Conflict, and a Commander's Strategy for Social Media Provenance Data in Social Media Conflict Prediction Through Geo-Spatial Interpolation of Radicalization in Syrian Social Media Social Media Effects on Operational Art Assessing the Potential of Societal Verification by Means of New Media Army Social Media: Harnessing the Power of Networked Communications Analysis of Department of Defense Social Media Policy and Its Impact on Operational Security Social Media: Valuable Tools in Today's Operational Environment Conflict Prediction Through Geo-Spatial Interpolation of Radicalization in Syrian Social Media

Download or read book Monitoring Social Media written by William Marcellino and published by . This book was released on 2017 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: To support the U.S. Department of Defense in expanding its capacity for social media analysis, this report reviews the analytic approaches that will be most valuable for information operations and considerations for implementation.

Download or read book Division Level Social Media written by U. S. Military and published by . This book was released on 2018-05-06 with total page 82 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Social media has become an accepted form of communication in society including the U.S. Army. Currently U.S. Army units of all sizes have their own social media pages on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or a combination of all three sites. Social media continues to evolve and change at a very rapid speed. The constant shift in civilian social media practices is changing the way U.S. Army divisions handle social media. The focus of this paper is on how division level social media is executed and how it is adapting to the ever-changing civilian social media trends. Division level social media is at the crosshairs of upper operational level and lower strategic levels of operations. Division level social media programs have the capability to reach up to 25,000 Soldiers and their family members. Division level social media has the ability to reach a wide variety of people but is the divisions use this capability being maximized? In this day and age, more and more people are connecting to social media. With the influx of people on social media, divisions have a large number of people that could potentially become followers. CONTENTS * CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION * Background * Social Media * Proposed Research Questions * Assumptions * Definitions * Scope * Limitations * Delimitations * Significance of Study * CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW * Military Literature * Civilian Literature * CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH DESIGN * Methodology * CHAPTER 4 ANALYSIS * CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS * Conclusion * Recommendations * Training * Budget * Expectation Management * Areas for Further Research * BIBLIOGRAPHY

Download or read book Social Media written by Susan M. Camoroda and published by . This book was released on 2010 with total page 33 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This paper will consider the current use of Social Media in the Department of Defense (DoD): review current policies, review current use of this medium by DoD, and analyze the impact of a new DoD Directive regarding use of Social Media on military networks. Social Media include many that are used primarily for distributing what is referred to as Strategic Communications (or Public Affairs Office/PAO) information - Facebook, Twitter, and various milblogs are examples. Other Social Media can be defined as Information Sharing portals - Army Knowledge Online, unit home pages, and DefenseLink.mil being three prime examples. There are two overarching concerns with the use of Social Media - particularly Facebook and Twitter: Operations Security (OPSEC) and network security (or the perceived increase in risk to the DoD network through exposure to these commercial sites). This paper will review the current policies regarding Social Media use in DoD and provide an analysis regarding the appropriateness and effectiveness of these policies in securing the information network.

Download or read book Social Media written by U. S. Military and published by . This book was released on 2017-04-02 with total page 79 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Social media is the fastest growing vulnerability to the military mission and the personal security of all Airmen. On 30 November 2014, the FBI issued warning to members of the US military and requested that they review their social media presence for any information like names and addresses that might attract the attention of violent ISIS extremists. Over the past decade, the convergence of mobile broadband devices has enabled social media to become more and more integrated into our everyday lives. The inherent risks and vulnerabilities of the internet and social networking sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter along with the Air Force's endorsement to actively use social media, has cultivated a rich and ripe environment for foreign adversaries and criminals to cherry-pick personal information about Airmen and their missions for nefarious activities. To help Americans understand the risks that come with being online, the Department of Homeland Security launched a new cybersecurity awareness campaign: Stop, Think, and Connect. To educate Airmen on social media, AF public affairs created the "Air Force Social Media Guide" in 2013 to encourage Airmen to share their AF experiences with family and friends in the social media environment. However, this is counter to the FBI's guidance that promotes the reduction of users' on-line footprint and online presence in cyberspace. Public Affairs published the "Air Force Social Media Guide" in 2013 to encourage Airmen to share their Air Force experiences with family and friends in the social media environment with the following introduction: "This guide will help you share information effectively while following Air Force instructions and protecting operations security." The guide does an excellent job identifying the "shoulds" and "should nots" in social media; however, the guide does not address hardware vulnerabilities or the risks of using social media sites. This paper will respond to some of the most common threats and vulnerabilities of the social media environment, the risks of using social media, and the current Air Force social media guidance. It will also provide recommendations to educate better and inform Airmen and their families on using social media sites and cyberspace best practices. Today's cyberspace environment provides an engaging interactive experience for social networking, picture and video sharing, and blogs that keep end users engaged and wanting to share or consume more information. In addition to social media sites, commercial web services, online commerce services, and the hardware used for networking can provide the means to compromise sensitive information. Threats to desktop computer hardware are important but fall outside the scope of this paper; an example is in the notes. Today's hackers have discovered exquisite ways to install malware on a user's computer hardware through seemingly innocuous means by exploiting security breaches in social media websites that use Java, Ajax, or other popular software technologies. Opening up files or hyperlinks attached to social media messages or email attachments may contain malware that can bypass firewalls or virus protection programs. In many cases, this happens without the user knowing they have become a victim or that their hardware is infected.

Download or read book Islamic Extremists Love the Internet and Reconceptualizing Radicalized Groups and Their Messages Making of Potential Home Grown Terrorists Counter Strategies Use of Social Media Opsec Process written by U S Military and published by Independently Published. This book was released on 2019-02-07 with total page 108 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Two excellent reports are compiled in this unique document. The first, Islamic Extremists Love the Internet, explores the exploitation of the World Wide Web to develop home-grown terrorists. The second, Reconceptualizing Radicalized Groups and Their Messages, explores alternative approaches for special forces to engage with radicalized groups. Our compilation reproduction also includes, as a bonus, the complete 2019 U.S. Intelligence Community Worldwide Threat Assessment, a substantial document with updated analysis of dozens of critical national security issues.Islamic Extremists Love the Internet - Al-Qaeda and its network of followers have had great success during this decade with their efforts to influence the West. Which cyber tool have these terrorists used as their main weapon to achieve their objectives? What effect is this having on America's younger generation? Since September 11, 2001 Islamic extremist terrorists have been exploiting the Internet to promote their radical ideology and today they are targeting select youth, developing them into homegrown terrorists who support their cause. A careful study of select terror Web sites reflects that jihadists are promoting their propaganda and highlighting successful operations directed against our government and the U.S. military. What cyber techniques are being used for persuasion? This author's thesis is that Islamic extremists are exploiting the Internet resulting in the development of homegrown terrorists a serious vulnerability which the U.S. government has inadequately addressed. How does this threat impact the Department of Defense and the combat commander's mission? This premise illustrates how the terrorists are gathering sensitive information, occasionally critical information, and valuable data points from the Internet and using these resources to construct combat operational planning directed against our forces. Operational security education is paramount for all department employees and military commands. This paper illustrates the OPSEC process. It also recommends a strategic counter-strategy to the extremists' Web site influence.Reconceptualizing Radicalized Groups and Their Messages - What this occasional paper explores are alternative approaches for SOF to engage with radicalized groups. As an example, at present, mainstream defense and intelligence analysts proclaim the prowess of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in social media-a result of both reach and authenticity. The solution? Comprehensive engagement in the narrative space to defeat the effects of ISIS in the psychological and sociological aspects of the human domain. TThe Department of State's recently activated Global Engagement Center (GEC) is tasked with an arguably overdue role in coordinating U.S.-wide, counter-violent-extremist communication efforts. The GEC not only aims to reduce duplication of effort, it likewise aspires to identify nationwide priorities and ways and means for agencies to complement each other's counter-narrative efforts by comparing notes across those agencies. Even with improved coordination and perspective, communication narratives can never tell an entire political violence or radicalization story. For example, research finds that individuals pre-disposed to causing harm are more vulnerable to terrorist recruitment.. Also, assessment of narratives and/ or social media data ignores the impact/effect of a growing female recruitment base on vulnerable males. Therefore, it's important to think wider and deeper. Rethinking this problem from a joint social psychology-notably realistic conflict theory (RCT)- and social network analysis approach can yield unprecedented insights on the inner workings of radicalized groups and their penchant for political violence.

Download or read book Understanding Social Media and Mass Mobilization in the Operational Environment Relevance of Twitter and Facebook Trends in Army s Future Operating Environment Battleswarm and Future Warfare written by U. S. Military and published by . This book was released on 2017-03-02 with total page 85 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The advent of social media combined with unfettered access to inexpensive mobile electronic devices has dramatically increased information sharing throughout populations worldwide. Journalists ascribed terms such as "The Facebook Effect" and "The Twitter Revolution" to recent uprisings in the Middle East, crediting social media as a catalyst to those social movements. Factions demanding change utilized social media to assist in mobilizing activist crowds within their own countries and to garner support on the international stage. The degree to which social media facilitated these movements varied in each country, but the fact that social media played a role in the uprisings is indisputable. This monograph proposes that since people will continue to use social media to help influence future social movements, the US Army needs to better understand, anticipate, and exploit the potential threat presented by social media and mass mobilization in future operating environments. In some cases, intelligence analysts can predict or anticipate effects based on simple pattern analysis or other predictive models. In other instances, this may prove impossible. The US Army may find that using principles of complexity theory can provide the most continuously useful guide to gain insights into how factions intent on social unrest use social media to help organize their movements and advance towards a common goal. Planners can understand potential threats using characteristics of self-organization, anticipate using emergent properties, and exploit the properties of networks inherent in complex adaptive systems. Using complex systems thinking, the Army may be able to develop unique operational approaches to cope with these problems in an increasingly complex environment. Acronyms * Introduction * Background * Understand, Anticipate, Exploit Using Principles of Complexity Theory * Defining Terms * Relevance of Social Media and the Army's Future Operating Environment * Increased urbanization will require the US Army to operate in cities * Social media trends * Intersection of trends: battleswarm and possible future warfare * Overview of Egyptian uprisings in 2011 * Common Properties of Complex Systems Provide a Basis for Analysis * Identify the Simple Components before Analyzing the Interactions * Nonlinear Interactions Create Something Superior to the Individual Components * Lack of Central Control Allows for Decentralized Organization * Emergent Behaviors Lead to Evolution of the System * Summary of Common Properties of Complex Systems * Understanding how Mass Mobilization and Social Media Interact through Characteristics of Self-Organization * Clustering Helps Protect Individuals * Flocking and Schooling Assists in Moving Towards a Common Objective * Task Allocation Alters to React to Changing Conditions * Decision-Making through Quorum Sensing * Summary of Characteristics of Self-Organization * Anticipate Using Characteristics of Emergence in a Complex Adaptive System * Information processing through Local Sampling and Statistics * Hierarchical Organizations Promote Survival * Dynamics Determine How the System Changes its Patterns * Systems Adapt through Evolution and Learning * Summary of Emergence in Complex Adaptive Systems * Exploit the Common Properties of Networks * Small World Properties Reveal that Paths in Networks are Shorter than Expected * Long-Tailed Degree Distribution Can Give Insight into Social Network * Clustering and Community Structure Indicate How Quickly Information Travels * Networks May be Vulnerable to Targeted Hub Attacks * Cascading Failure May Collapse the Entire Network * Summary of Network Properties * Conclusion * Bibliography

Download or read book Using Social Media for Global Security written by Ravi Gupta and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2013-01-16 with total page 458 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Essential reading for cybersecurity professionals, security analysts, policy experts, decision-makers, activists, and law enforcement! During the Arab Spring movements, the world witnessed the power of social media to dramatically shape events. Now this timely book shows government decision-makers, security analysts, and activists how to use the social world to improve security locally, nationally, and globally--and cost-effectively. Authored by two technology/behavior/security professionals, Using Social Media for Global Security offers pages of instruction and detail on cutting-edge social media technologies, analyzing social media data, and building crowdsourcing platforms. The book teaches how to collect social media data and analyze it to map the social networks of terrorists and sex traffickers, and forecast attacks and famines. You will learn how to coalesce communities through social media to help catch murderers, coordinate disaster relief, and collect intelligence about drug smuggling from hard-to-reach areas. Also highlighting dramatic case studies drawn from the headlines, this crucial book is a must-read. Illustrates linguistic, correlative, and network analysis of OSINT Examines using crowdsourcing technologies to work and engage with populations globally to solve security problems Explores how to ethically deal with social media data without compromising people’s rights to privacy and freedom of expression Shows activists fighting against oppressive regimes how they can protect their identities online If you're responsible for maintaining local, national or global security, you'll want to read Using Social Media for Global Security.

Download or read book Studies Combined Social Media And Online Visual Propaganda As Political And Military Tools Of Persuasion written by and published by Jeffrey Frank Jones. This book was released on with total page 1780 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Over 1,700 total pages ... Contains the following publications: Visual Propaganda and Extremism in the Online Environment COUNTERMOBILIZATION: UNCONVENTIONAL SOCIAL WARFARE Social Media: More Than Just a Communications Medium HOW SOCIAL MEDIA AFFECTS THE DYNAMICS OF PROTEST Finding Weakness in Jihadist Propaganda NATURAL LANGUAGE PROCESSING OF ONLINE PROPAGANDA AS A MEANS OF PASSIVELY MONITORING AN ADVERSARIAL IDEOLOGY AIRWAVES AND MICROBLOGS: A STATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF AL-SHABAAB’S PROPAGANDA EFFECTIVENESS THE ISLAMIC STATE’S TACTICS IN SYRIA: ROLE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN SHIFTING A PEACEFUL ARAB SPRING INTO TERRORISM TWEETING NAPOLEON AND FRIENDING CLAUSEWITZ: SOCIAL MEDIA AND THE #MILITARYSTRATEGIST TROLLING NEW MEDIA: VIOLENT EXTREMIST GROUPS RECRUITING THROUGH SOCIAL MEDIA The Combatant Commander’s Guide to Countering ISIS’s Social Media Campaign #Terror - Social Media and Extremism THE WEAPONIZATION OF SOCIAL MEDIA THE COMMAND OF THE TREND: SOCIAL MEDIA AS A WEAPON IN THE INFORMATION AGE PEACEFUL PROTEST, POLITICAL REGIMES, AND THE SOCIAL MEDIA CHALLENGE THE WEAPONIZED CROWD: VIOLENT DISSIDENT IRISH REPUBLICANS EXPLOITATION OF SOCIAL IDENTITY WITHIN ONLINE COMMUNITIES Seizing the Digital High Ground: Military Operations and Politics in the Social Media Era PERSONALITY AND SOCIAL INFLUENCE CHARACTERISTIC AFFECTS ON EASE OF USE AND PEER INFLUENCE OF NEW MEDIA USERS OVER TIME FREE INTERNET AND SOCIAL MEDIA: A DUAL-EDGED SWORD

Download or read book Terrorism and Social Media Is Big Tech Doing Enough Efforts by Youtube Facebook and Twitter to Remove Terrorist Content Using Artificial Intel written by U. S. Congress and published by Independently Published. This book was released on 2019-03-17 with total page 176 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An important hearing before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation in 2018, Terrorism and Social Media: Is Big Tech Doing Enough? is reproduced here. This compilation includes a reproduction of the 2019 Worldwide Threat Assessment of the U.S. Intelligence Community. Contents: Monika Bickert, Head of Product Policy and Counterterrorism, Facebook, Juniper Downs, Director, Public Policy and Government Relations, Youtube, Carlos Monje, Jr., Director, Public Policy and Philanthropy, U.S. and Canada, Twitter, and Clint Watts, Robert A. Fox Fellow, Foreign Policy Research Institute.The Chairman stated: The positive contributions of social media platforms are well documented. YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter, among others, help to connect people around the world, give voice to those oppressed by totalitarian regimes, and provide a forum for discussions of every political, social, scientific, and cultural stripe. These services have thrived online because of the freedom made possible by the uniquely American guarantee of free speech and by a light touch regulatory policy. But, as is so often the case, enemies of our way of life have sought to take advantage of our freedoms to advance hateful causes. Violent Islamic terrorist groups like ISIS have been particularly aggressive in seeking to radicalize and recruit over the Internet and various social media platforms. The companies that our witnesses represent have a very difficult task: preserving the environment of openness upon on which their platforms have thrived, while seeking to responsibly manage and thwart the actions of those who would use their services for evil. We are here today to explore how they are doing that, what works, and what could be improved. Instances of Islamic terrorists using social media platforms to organize, instigate, and inspire are well documented. For example, the killer responsible for the Orlando nightclub shooting, in which 49 innocent people were murdered and 53 were injured, was reportedly inspired by digital material that was readily available on social media.The companies before us are increasingly using technology to speed up their efforts to identify and neutralize the spread of terrorist content. In a recent blog post, Facebook said that artificial intelligence now removes 99 percent of ISIS and al Qaeda related terror content even before it can be flagged by a member of the community and sometimes even before it can be seen by any users. YouTube is also teaming up with Jigsaw, the in-house think tank of Google's parent company Alphabet, to test a new method of counter-radicalization referred to as the Redirect Method. Seeking to redirect or refocus potential terrorists at an earlier stage in the radicalization process, YouTube offers users searching for specific terrorist information additional videos made specifically to deter them from becoming radicalized.

Download or read book Utilizing Social Media and Protecting Members and Their Families written by Jennifer M. Piggott and published by . This book was released on 2016 with total page 34 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Social media is rewriting the rules of modern warfare, making it more difficult to analyze and predict our enemies and control the information that is in the public domain. It is essential to ensure the safety of military members and their families when using social media, all while continuing to tell the U.S. Air Force (Air Force) story. The purpose of this study is to evaluate if social media, specifically Facebook, poses a threat to military members and their families. A subset of this study is to evaluate if the education provided by Public Affairs is adequate to protect military members and their families in an ever-evolving technological society. Terrorist groups depend on open media systems, such as social media, to further their message, actively recruit, and promote propaganda. A 2012 study showed that approximately 90 percent of organized terrorism on the Internet use social media to carry out their threat or cause. As of 2014, Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) supporters used at least 46,000 accounts on Twitter. ISIS released more than 100 service members' names through social media in March 2015, and charged its members to kill those service members whose names, photos, and addresses were posted online. The threat is significant and growing at a rapid pace. Continuing the status quo does not decrease the threat of social media to military members and their families. The Air Force must incorporate a multi-tiered approach to reduce the threat social media poses to military members and their families. This includes establishing a course at the Defense Information School (DINFOS) that focuses on social media and the associated threats of this growing communication; creating a risk communication strategy or case study; and updating policy and guidance in a timely manner to reflect the growing threat and the pace in which social media is emerging"--Abstract.

Download or read book Social Media written by Scott E. Solomon and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2017-07-24 with total page 48 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Social media is the fastest growing vulnerability to the military mission and the personal security of all Airmen. On 30 November 2014, the FBI issued warning to members of the US military and requested that they review their social media presence for any information like names and addresses that might attract the attention of violent ISIS extremists. Over the past decade, the convergence of mobile broadband devices has enabled social media to become more and more integrated into our everyday lives. The inherent risks and vulnerabilities of the internet and social networking sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter along with the Air Force's endorsement to actively use social media, has cultivated a rich and ripe environment for foreign adversaries and criminals to cherry-pick personal information about Airmen and their missions for nefarious activities. To help Americans understand the risks that come with being online, the Department of Homeland Security launched a new cybersecurity awareness campaign: Stop, Think, and Connect. To educate Airmen on social media, AF public affairs created the "Air Force Social Media Guide" in 2013 to encourage Airmen to share their AF experiences with family and friends in the social media environment. However, this is counter to the FBI's guidance that promotes the reduction of users' on-line footprint and online presence in cyberspace.

Download or read book Integrating Social Media into Information Systems written by Douglas Yeung, Douglas and published by Rand Corporation. This book was released on 2018-01-01 with total page 216 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This report examines the technical challenges associated with incorporating bulk, automated analysis of social media information into procedures for vetting people seeking entry into the United States. The authors identify functional requirements and a framework for operational metrics for the proposed social media screening capabilities and provide recommendations on how to implement those capabilities.

Download or read book Examining Changing American Perceptions of the Terrorist Threat written by U S Military and published by Independently Published. This book was released on 2018-07-12 with total page 130 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The American public's fear of becoming a victim of terrorism significantly increased after 9/11 and remained elevated much longer than one might expect. This thesis explains how and why Americans' perception of the terrorist threat bears little relation to the dangers Americans actually face. Several factors influenced that shift. First, the news media landscape changed dramatically due to structural factors such as increased competition for audience share among traditional news sources, cable news networks, and the Internet. Second, the Internet allowed terrorist organizations, especially Al Qaeda and its affiliates, to propagate threats and messages directly to the public. Third, popular culture, especially film and television drama, affected Americans' stereotypical understanding of terrorism. Finally, politicians and members of the terrorism industry were incentivized after 9/11 to inflate concerns about the terrorism threat. These factors coalesced, reacting with innate human sociological and psychological characteristics, to create a prolonged collective psychosis. This thesis finds that future policies and research focusing on risk communication, counterterrorism economics, and intelligence transparency may be essential to breaking this collective psychosis cycle. I. INTRODUCTION * A. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE RESEARCH QUESTION * B. THE PUBLIC'S PERCEPTION OF THE TERRORIST THREAT * C. ASSESSING CHANGES IN THE TERRORIST THREAT IN THE UNITED STATES * D. POTENTIAL EXPLANATION AND LITERATURE REVIEW * 1. The News Media * 2. Popular Culture * 3. The Internet * 4. The Political Elite * 5. The "Terrorism Industry" * 6. Sociological and Psychological Response * E. SUMMARY OF THE ARGUMENT * F. THESIS OVERVIEW AND CHAPTER OUTLINE * II. ASSESSING THE EFFECTS OF THE NEWS MEDIA, THE INTERNET, AND POPULAR CULTURE * A. ASSESSING THE NEWS * 1. News as Public Drama * 2. Reporting Terrorism in the News * 3. Setting the News Agenda * B. TERRORISM, THE INTERNET, AND MASS SELF-COMMUNICATION * 1. Americans' and Terrorists' Use of the Internet * 2. Propagating the Terrorist Threat through the Internet * C. TERRORISM IN POPULAR CULTURE * 1. Related Themes in Terrorism and Popular Culture Literature * 2. Terrorism in Film * 3. Terrorism in Television Drama * D. CHAPTER SUMMARY * III. ASSESSING TERRORISM INDUSTRY INCENTIVES-POLITICIANS, BUREAUCRATS, AND OTHERS * A. POLITICAL INCENTIVES * 1. Terrorist Threat Inflation * 2. The Terrorism Threat and Political Agendas * 3. Using the Terrorism Threat for Electoral Gain * B. BUREAUCRATS AND INDUSTRY * 1. Economic Incentives * 2. Institutional Factors * C. CHAPTER SUMMARY * IV. CONCLUSION * A. CREATING AND SUSTAINING A COLLECTIVE PSYCHOSIS * B. RECOMMENDATIONS * 1. Risk Communication * 2. Counterterrorism Economics * 3. Intelligence Transparency * C. CLOSING REMARKS

Download or read book The Information Battlespace written by U S Military and published by . This book was released on 2019-08 with total page 50 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The current conflict the United States and its coalition partners are engaged in with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) is largely ideological. The West's narrative of liberal democracy runs counter to that of ISIS's brand of Islamic extremism bent on Sharia law. ISIS recently revealed it has devoted significant effort to a domain that offers it a more even playing field in which to challenge those who oppose it. The skill with which it produced a video of the terrorist group's murder of a Jordanian pilot indicates an advanced understanding of visual communication. This and other instances of an increased emphasis on operations within the information battlespace deserve close scrutiny. The U.S. Air Force faces two major obstacles in contending with this issue: first, cultural and organizational emphasis on the communications requirements associated with equipping the Air Force as opposed to operational communications and second, the risk aversion endemic to large bureaucracies. This research paper will analyze instances of ISIS's increased, more sophisticated efforts in the realm of communication and using that information, will suggest strategies to overcome the obstacles to the Air Force contending with this challenge, not only with respect to ISIS, but any enemy seeking to engage in the information battlespace. Although these efforts overlap at times with what the U.S. military calls Psychological Operations or Military Information Support Operations, for the purposes of this paper, the analysis will focus solely on Public Affairs (PA) efforts to influence the enemy.This compilation includes a reproduction of the 2019 Worldwide Threat Assessment of the U.S. Intelligence Community.The terrorist group ISIS recently revealed it has devoted significant effort to a domain that offers it a more even playing field in which to challenge those who oppose the group. The skill with which ISIS members produced a video of their murder of a Jordanian pilot indicates an advanced understanding of visual communication. This and other instances of an increased emphasis on operations within the information battlespace deserve close scrutiny. Such efforts should send a signal to the military and to the Air Force in particular-our enemies will seek to fight us in the arena of their choosing, not ours. The Air Force faces two major obstacles in contending with this issue: first, organizational emphasis on traditional air operations and the requirements to conduct those operations and second, the risk aversion endemic to large bureaucracies like military services.

Download or read book Understanding Violence Through Social Media Assessing Feasibility of Twitter Utilization in Conflict Prediction Using Messages Within Iraq Extreme Negative Terminology Predicts Subsequent Violence written by U. S. Military and published by . This book was released on 2018-07-06 with total page 69 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This important December 2017 report has been professionally converted for accurate flowing-text e-book format reproduction. While social media analysis has been widely utilized to predict various market and political trends, its utilization to improve geospatial conflict prediction in contested environments remains understudied. To determine the feasibility of social media utilization in conflict prediction, we compared historical conflict data and social media metadata, utilizing over 829,537 geo-referenced messages sent through the Twitter network within Iraq from August 2013 to July 2014. From our research, we conclude that social media metadata has a positive impact on conflict prediction when compared with historical conflict data. Additionally, we find that utilizing the most extreme negative terminology from a locally derived social media lexicon provided the most significant predictive accuracy for determining areas that would experience subsequent violence. We suggest future research projects center on improving the conflict prediction capability of social media data and include social media analysis in operational assessments. I. INTRODUCTION * II. LITERATURE REVIEW * A. SOCIAL MEDIA ANALYSIS AND MILITARY DOCTRINE * B. CONFLICT PREDICTION * C. METHODOLOGY SYNTHESIS * III. BACKGROUND-IRAQ * IV. RESEARCH METHODS * A. HYPOTHESIS * B. DATA AND METHODS * 1. Social Media * 2. Sentiment Dictionary * 3. Analysis Framework * 4. Dependent Variable * 5. Independent Variable * 6. Control Variables * C. REGRESSION ANALYSIS * V. RESULTS * A. FINDING ONE-TWITTER MATTERS * B. FINDING TWO-NEGATIVE SENTIMENT IMPROVES PREDICTIONS * C. FINDING THREE-EXTREME SENTIMENT MATTERS MORE * VI. ADDITIONAL RESEARCH * A. SENTIMENT FOLLOWING VIOLENT EVENTS * B. DOES THE NATURE OF THE CONFLICT MATTER? * C. ARABIC LEXICONS AND TWITTER * VII. CONCLUSION Social media continues to evolve as a means of sentiment sharing, communication, and social interaction. The interconnectedness of population groups continues to grow with the advancement of mobile device technology and the accessibility of Internet communication infrastructures. This medium provides a constant flow of social tendencies throughout 37 percent of the world's population, which are not limited to benign subjects but also include radical leanings and other forms of social unrest. Analyzing social media trends in key locations of strategic concern could provide an additional tool for conflict prediction.3 Additionally, examining the relationship between social media sentiments and violent events could allow decision makers to be proactive and less reactionary. Why is this important? Human domain dynamics constantly shift, so the requirement to seek new and inventive ways to gather intelligence on those shifts is imperative. Moreover, the environments where human intelligence is needed most are often the hardest to access physically. The lack of real-time human intelligence in locations with limited access is therefore a serious problem. However, advances in communication technology have also produced new means for maintaining situational awareness. This research seeks to provide insight into human sentiment through social media analysis as a viable solution to this problem. Once we understand the relationship between sentiment and violence in a particular conflict, we can operationalize solutions to curb the occurrence of violence through conflict resolution.