Social Media and StateOf-The-Art Technology: Viable Tools to Combat Insecurity and Terrorism

By

Don Okereke
(Security Analyst & Consultant)
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Social Media and State-Of-The-Art Technology: Viable Tools to Combat Insecurity and Terrorism

By Don Okereke
Social Media are internet or Phone based applications that enable people to communicate, share resources and information in real time. Social Media, Open Source Analysis/Softwares and Crowd Sourcing (obtaining needed services, ideas, or information by soliciting contributors from a large group of people especially from an online community rather than traditional sources) have immensely revolutionized the way information and knowledge are generated and disseminated. Social media is like a two-edged sword: it can be a threat to National Security and also has the propensity to tone up National Security if well reined in. Facebook and Twitter are inadvertently effective tools for organizing protests. Both played major roles during the Arab Spring. There is no gainsaying the huge potentials and impact of Social Media and State-of-theart technology in the fight against Insecurity, Terrorism and other social vices. According to Internet World Statistics about 45.04 million people use the internet in Nigeria. This places Nigeria on the 11 th position in the world after France. With a population of about 170 million people, Nigerias Internet penetration ratio is put at 26.5%. Currently there are about 5,288,960 FaceBook monthly Active Users in Nigeria (MAU). 69% of American adults use Social Media. Social Media Platforms- Facebook, Twitter, Hi5 etc can be a great feedback mechanism allowing members of the public to interface with the security agencies. Through these less formal channels, the citizenry can air their views, make enquiries and offer useful information and suggestions while remaining anonymous if they so wish. Social Media can be used to sniff out signs of hostility by collecting, collating and analyzing information or messages in other to prognosticate certain scenarios. For
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instance programs such as Open Source Indicators (OSI) or Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) data sources extracts and analyzes data from Social Media with the goal of monitoring and forecasting when National Security related events such as political crises, protests; emergencies etc are likely to occur. On the other hand, Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) technology allows Internet Service Providers, to manage network traffic and suppress unwanted connections . Civil right groups have an axe to grind with the aforementioned technologies because, they contend, it is doable for censors to identify single users and to look into every single Internet Protocol packet and subject it to special treatment based on content (censored or banned words) or type (email, VoIP or BitTorrent Protocol). Social Media can also be deployed to strengthen a countrys geopolitical position and its international credibility and to counter an adversarys propaganda. Hence Social Media can be a good Defence and Intelligence monitoring and predicting tool. The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is understood to have an automated system that constantly monitors any publicly entered information for a list of about 500-750 keywords that deal with National Security. The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is believed to use Social Media to gauge how people feel by analyzing millions of Tweets, blog posts and Facebook updates from around the world. They saw the uprising in Egypt coming. Twitter also helped the CIA to give White House a snapshot of global public impression after Bin Laden was killed in Pakistan. The Canadian Mounted Police Deputy Chief Constable-Gordon Scobbie encourages Police formations across Canada to use Social Media both for community outreach and operations. According to him, through Social Media, citizens can find out who their community constables are, how to contact them and what the local priorities are. In the United Kingdom, the MI5 and Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) used Social Media to trawl for riot organizers and mobilizers during the widespread riots that engulfed London, Birmingham, Manchester and other locations. It was reported that BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) played a major role in spreading information about the riots because it allows users to send a message free of charge to
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a network of contacts connected by BBM Pins. It is believed that GCHQ computers and listening devices can pick up audio messages and BBM communications, identify where they have been sent from and their final destination. Officers of the London Metropolitan Police Computer Unit are known to trawl popular internet chat rooms sniffing out child sex offenders, pedophiles, criminals and terrorists. It appears Nigeria is striving not to be left out in the grand scheme of things. Nigerian authorities seem to have upped the ante with the recent $40 million internet monitoring and surveillance contract allegedly awarded to an Israeli firm. There has been a lot of hullabaloo in Nigeria over this development. Some time ago researchers at the Munk School for Global Affairs at the University of Toronto alerted the world that Nigeria, Egypt, and Kenya were deploying Internet surveillance and censorship technology. Social media is the in-thing now. To underscore the growing importance and recognition of Social Media in our everyday life, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently gave Companies the go-ahead to use Social Media for official announcements. If properly harnessed and deployed, Social Media has tremendous potentials in terms of Intelligence gathering and keeping abreast of goings-on in the society. Bring to mind that many of the insurgency, terrorist cells and criminal organizations are Internet savvy and have online presence- they issue online Press Releases via websites such as YouTube amongst others. Through their online presence, they cannot avoid not leaving online forensic fingerprint trails no matter how meticulous and IT savvy they are. The Internet Protocol (I.P) address of an online interaction or transaction can go a long way in approximating the geographical location of the Server where the message originated from. Undoubtedly there are inherent dangers associated with Social Media or Social Networking Platforms. Unwittingly liking a terrorist organization, an individual classified as a terrorist or a radicalized school of thought may be a subtle invitation to the prying eyes of Security/Intelligence Agencies. Recall the brutal murder of Miss
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Cynthia Osukogu sometime last year by supposed friends she hooked up with through one of the social networking platforms. Yes that is one of the negative spin-offs of social networking platforms. The gist is that her assailants were also nabbed using the same social networking technique. From what I gathered regarding this incident, her assailants sold her BlackBerry mobile phone to someone after they must have mangled her. Her BB Pin number was subsequently used to re-establish contact with the bloke that bought the phone and he then led investigators to the geezers that sold the Blackberry phone to him. Brilliant investigation. Beware buying all these second-hand phones especially the BBs that have unique pin numbers. Like they say in Nigerian parlance: I no follow na ten thousand naira. I am sure you know what that means? Before you know it, you have been paraded on National television as a Suspect or an accessory before or after the fact just because you bought a used phone. The damage on your image or credibility will be difficult to erase even if you manage to exonerate yourself or wriggle out of it. Moving on. Just recently, the Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND) reportedly issued a warning of an impending resumption of hostilities in the Oil-rich Niger Delta sequel to the jailing of their supposed leader-Henry Okah by a South African court. MEND believes the Nigerian government connived with their South African counterpart to put Henry Okah behind bars. Rather than Nigerias Security Agencies been proactive and take the threat seriously, they promptly waved it aside. Sometime on 6 th April 2013, about thirteen Police officers were hacked to death aftermath of an ambush which MEND claimed responsibility for. The Nigeria Police disputes MENDs claims. Whether it was MEND or not, life has been snuffed out of 13 Police officers. This would have been avoidable if due diligence was taken to vigorously analyze the veracity of the Press Release that supposedly emanated from MEND. The security agencies would have ascertained if the latest message was consistent with previous messages that emanated from the group? Did it originate from the ab initio email address that the group were/are known with? Where was the Server of that message domiciled? These are some of the questions that would have been addressed before dismissing the threat. Our bane in this part of the world is that by acts
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of commission or omission, we have a propensity to be reactive than proactive. You dont bring out kegs to fetch water after the rainfall must have stopped. As is the case in many advanced countries, it will be a welcome idea if the person or office of Nigerias National Security Adviser (NSA), the State Security Service (SSS), the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) amongst others have dedicated and functional Facebook, Twitter, Skype accounts through which members of the public can interface directly with them and proffer solutions. How can an ordinary Nigerian citizen privy to some sensitive or classified information circumvent protocol and get the nugget of information to the leadership of these organizations when the Oga at the top is completely detached and disconnected from members of the public. This is where Social Media comes in; it dissolves unnecessary red tape. On this note, I want to commend the current I.G of Police- Mr. M.D Abubakar for doing something unprecedented in the annals of law enforcement in the Nigerian terrain by making his personal phone number public through which Nigerians can reach him directly devoid of the unnecessary bureaucracy and bottlenecks. Western Security Agencies- the FBI, CIA, MI5, and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police etc no doubt have a better grasp of Social Media and the internet generally than their Nigerian counterparts. I stand corrected, I am not aware of the Nigerian State Security Service (SSS) having a website for instance. Perhaps they dont need it, they are better off been heard through their spokeswoman than seen innit? The need for State-of-the-art Technological Gadgets Nigerians always moan about the unprecedented Security challenges bedeviling Nigeria. Yes, we have a right to but we must not blame everyone else except ourselves for the decadence. With staff strength of about 370,000 rank and file, there is no doubt that the Nigeria Police is over-stretched and overwhelmed by the daunting security challenges. In a country of about 160 million people, this grossly falls short of the United Nations recommended Police to people ratio of 1:450. Hence rather than passing the buck, it is
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high time we took responsibility, become more security conscious and where possible, invest a little in personal security gadgets. Fortunately there is a proliferation of Security Gadgets like bug detectors, smoke detectors/fire alarms, portable battery-operated CCTV Cameras, Metal/bomb detectors, GSM/GPS Car trackers, wireless video door phones, wireless pen video/voice recorders, fingerprint/biometric door locks, pepper sprays etc are cheapo. Thanks to the increasing penetration of technology, most of the sophisticated miniaturized surveillance gadgets we see in James Bond movies are now commonplace and are no longer the exclusive preserve of rich individuals or mainstream government security establishments. Cases abound in Nigeria of prominent individuals being assassinated with no iota of clue as to the perpetrators. An affordable Pen Video Camera on the breast pocket of the victim could have recorded what transpired. A battery-operated portable Table Clock CCTV camera in a house, office, shop or an apartment has the capacity to record goings-on in that vicinity for upwards of 24 hours. A pepper spray has the potency to temporarily immobilize a potential kidnapper, rapist or even an armed robber. A good smoke detector/alarm can cost as low as six thousand naira and this can save properties worth millions of naira. On a National level, investment in novel technologies will do a far better job than relying on incompetent manpower. For example, Satellite technology and Internet Protocol (I.P) Networked CCTV Cameras has a better prospect in monitoring or protecting our Oil pipelines/installations and strategic national infrastructures rather awarding multi-billion naira contracts to a battalion of unconventional and incompetent OPC, Egbesu Boys or ex-Niger Delta militants. The persistent pipeline vandalization and oil bunkering (Nigeria reportedly looses 150,000 barrels of crude oil daily to oil theft) shows that these vigilantes are inept at doing what they claim they know how to do best. Security is definitely a money spinning and sapping industry in Nigeria. In 2013, out of the N4.9 trillion Federal budgets, the Nigeria Police got N319.65bn while N348.91bn accrued to Defence. In addition to this, each of the 36 State governors is entitled to
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N6bn as Security Vote which they dont owe anybody any explanations as to what or how they expend the largesse. The deteriorating security situation in the country lends credence to the fact that the monies allocated to security may not have been judiciously used after all. Simply put, the money does not trickle down. Investment in state-of-the-art gadgets like Automatic Number Plate Recognition Systems, an encompassing National Crime database and Fingerprint of convicted exfelons, functional National Forensic Science laboratory, unattended land/ground sensors for border control etc will go a long way in forestalling wanton insecurity in Nigeria. To buttress the relevance of the foregoing especially the essence of an efficient border control measure; there was this hullabaloo recently of some foreign terrorists supposedly from Niger Republic been arrested in Lagos. News had it that those guys were promptly deported to Niger Republic. Is that the solution to the problem? Punch Newspaper of February 6, 2013 opines that, immigration uncovers 1,487 illegal entry routes to Nigeria. I think this is a conservative estimate. With the ubiquitous illegal entry points to Nigeria, I can guarantee that those deported geezers have slipped back to Nigeria through the Illela-Sokoto border. If Nigeria really means business in fighting insecurity and terrorism, then we must massively curtail illegal migration by ensuring that our massive land, sea and maritime borders are well patrolled and protected. Conclusion: National Security Agencies, experts and think tanks must adapt quickly to emerging technologies such as the Social Media and utilize this tool efficiently to combat Insecurity and terrorism. In other not to be left out in the grand scheme of things, Nigerian Security Agencies must pay greater attention to Social Media and embrace the use of state-ofthe-art technologies. It is not enough to win the war. Serious effort must be geared towards winning the peace as well. It is very important that the Security Agencies carries the citizenry along in their

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activities and campaigns. Our approach to security must transcend a pugnacious firebrigade mentality. It is not adequate to have accounts with these social networking platforms or a website; those accounts must be functional and the websites must be regularly updated. The rate of Service delivery in Nigeria especially for public institutions is to say the least, very poor. The authorities must also ensure that they effectively respond to the questions or comments of members of the public on their Social Media Platforms or websites. Using the efforts and capabilities of the aforementioned foreign Security Agencies as a benchmark or yardstick, can we say in all honesty that we are doing enough in our socalled fight against Insecurity and Terrorism in Nigeria? Security is a collective responsibility. All hands must be on deck. No individual or country will make meaningful progress in an atmosphere of unpredictability, insecurity and instability. Lets make Nigeria great again! I enjoin all Nigerians to Unite Against Insecurity and Terrorism. See it, hear it, say it, stop it!!!

Don Okereke
(Security Analyst & Consultant) Abuja, Nigeria Email: donnuait@yahoo.com Phone: +2347080008285

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