Crowdsourced Intelligence

In the nexus between terrorism and technology, there are really only two standards floating upon a sea of change. The first is that despite the plethora of seemingly endlessly advancing technologies available, terrorists consistently utilize some of the most basic accouterments. While Black swan events such as nuclear terrorist elicit concern, it is the everyday kitchen anarchist who creates terror. The second standard is that it is equally impossible to determine beforehand what available technologies will be used to track down (and, in cases, eliminate the terrorist threat). In a mere decade, the United States has progressed from meticulous house-to-house searches to unmanned drones that stalk the night for hours.

In the case of the Boston Marathon bombing, one interesting trend that has developed is the utilization of internet forums to sift through the vast amount of facts (video, stills, etc.) surrounding the attack to crowdsource intelligence on potential suspects based on group analyzation. Up to five potential suspects have been identified, though more officially, only two are being sought. If the pattern is limited to providing intelligence to the appropriate sources, then the vast amount of data being recorded each day is not beneficial to terrorist operations; however, if crowdsourcing moves beyond intelligence review on its face and to tracking those people down, the downsides of ruining a potentially innocent person's life have already been made clear in much more benign circumstances.

It is definitely a fine line to walk, but authorities did request assistance on information on the bombing. That information started to sift in quickly and it will likely not be so long before we start to see whether any, or all, of it is accurate.