What Israel Is Up To And What We Can Be Doing

• Uri attack- September, 2016, Baramulla district, terrorists strike an army base in Uri killing 17 Indian soldiers.
• Orlando Pub Massacre- A man opens fire inside a gay nightclub in Orlando, USA, killing 49 and wounding 53 people. It is deemed as the next most deadly terrorist attack after 9/11 on US soil.
• November 2015 Paris attack- A series of well-coordinated attacks are executed in Paris with the help of suicide bombers and mass shooting. One of the most deadliest attacks on France since WW II, it leaves 130 dead and over 400 injured.

In World War II, they knew against whom they were fighting. In Vietnam war, they knew whom they were pitted against. Now, welcome to the age of technology where the wars are no more being fought with armies and heavy artillery; the war is waged over the internet. The US government recognizes that ISIS is superior in their usage of technology for mobilizing terror attacks all over the world. All it takes is a tweet or a post to activate a sleeper cell sitting thousands of miles away. So now, the government needs to keep up with the race to stay one step ahead of them.

Twitter is rumoured to have over 500 active accounts where extremist sensibilities are being propagated. Recently, Apple refused to unlock San Bernardino attacker Syed Rizwan’s iPhone and FBI had to get hold of hackers to do it instead. The tech corporations like Apple and  Twitter explain that once they create a backdoor for the US government for tracking terrorism ploys, it might be gravely misused by the foreign adversaries like Russia.

In 2015, US Department of Defense collaborated with the MIT Enterprise Forum of Israel to start a competitive platform, ‘Combating Terrorism Technology $100K Startup Challenge’. The purpose of this Tel Aviv-based program is to seek and reward the most innovative technology to tackle terrorism. Also, Israel is the industry leader when it comes to anti-terrorism technology. Following is the list of finalists from the 2015 edition:

• MicroSpark: This device can trace even a nanogram of hidden energetic material and help in deterring explosions.
• ThirdEye: It is a fully autonomous threat detection system that can detect intruders, fire and vehicles 24×7.
• VBact: This technology can detect virus in water and other environments and can be very useful in tackling bio warfare.

But the winner of the 2015 edition of this program was InSoundz- a technology that can grab a particular sound in a noisy environment and provide actionable intelligence to authorities.

Now the Scenario in India

In a report from May, 2016, IB expressed suspicion about ISI and other militant groups keeping tabs on Indian security forces with mobile malware. Just before that MHA had dispatched a circular called ‘ Prudent Smartphone Security Norms’ that underlined the threat of inadvertent security leaks by use of smartphones by military organizations.

In February 2015, TRAI said that there are 960 million active mobile phones in India, which is only second to China, which has the highest mobile phones usage in the world. Despite this, the next level of security technology in India is still in its nascent phase. This is happening when there is a vast potential for business players, even foreign investments, in this field. We need a serious boost in our real-time data collection and analytics sector to avert terrorist attacks before they happen. For that we need to start innovating or acquiring security technology.

Since law and order of each state comes under the state government and not the central government, companies and investors in this field must take steps towards approaching the state ministers via investor meetings. This will also give them insight into the ways and functioning of the local security industry.

The major task any willing foreign security company needs to address is adapting the technology as per the local needs, rules and regulations. This will enable these players in setting up their workshops and factories here thus leading to employment and more scope for local innovation.

Do you think that it’s high time that our young innovators and entrepreneurs started thinking along these lines? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

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