BICOM

A senior European Union (EU) security official is in Israel and has said that he is looking to learn from Israeli cyber capabilities in order to prevent further so-called ‘lone wolf’ attacks.

Attending an intelligence conference in Tel Aviv, EU Counter-Terrorism Coordinator Gilles de Kerchove outlined the security challenge, telling Reuters: “How do you capture some signs of someone who has no contact with any organisation, is just inspired and started expressing some kind of allegiance? I don’t know. It’s a challenge.” He said: “That is why I am here… We know Israel has developed a lot of capability in cyber.”

Last week’s truck rampage in Nice and an axe attack in Germany were two of the latest examples of terror attacks in Europe, where the assailant has no formal links to a terror group, but has likely been radicalised largely online.

Israel is considered to be a world leader in cyber security issues and already has a strong working relationship with the UK in this area. Earlier this year, the then Minister for the Cabinet Office Matt Hancock announced an extension to UK-Israel cyber defence cooperation, strengthening academic and real-time collaboration.

Israel has also been forced to contend with a recent wave of largely ‘lone wolf’ attacks. Since October, at least 40 people have been killed by Palestinians who have used mainly knives and vehicles to launch attacks. In most cases, they are thought to have acted alone, without the instruction of specific terror groups.

Consequently, Israeli security agencies have developed a methodology for spotting potential attackers before they strike. An anonymous Israeli military official told Reuters that the system involves combining human intelligence with social media monitoring. He said: “We reassess our database daily, based on the changing security needs and what we have learned from terrorist attacks that took place or from captured terrorists.”

Israel’s Intelligence Minister Yisrael Katz spoke at the conference yesterday and called for greater cooperation between governments and internet providers to combat terror.