Lockdown Restrictions
At the time of writing, the UK and much of the world has been in lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
With police patrolling the streets to ensure the public obey lockdown measures, flights banned, the use of public transport significantly down, and mass gathering prohibited, the pandemic has in many ways thwarted terrorist action.
But as people rely more on technology to work and communicate, the threat of cyber attack rises. Cyber criminals are not restricted by lockdown and have been capitalising on the emergency by sending out “phishing” attacks with malicious links or files. This could allow the hackers to steal sensitive data or even take control of a device for further attacks. As such, the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has launched a ‘Cyber Aware’ campaign, as well as a way to report suspicious emails. Further coverage of this is on page six.
Once normality is restored, the security concerns of a country in mass transit will return. This issue of Counter Terror Business features two interviews with top event security experts - David Stewart (Commonwealth Games) and Paul Williams (The O2) on measures to secure major events.
Meanwhile on page twenty-two, James Stickland investigates how a standardised biometric database could help quickly identify terrorists and, critically, help stop attacks before they happen.
Angela Pisanu, guest editor
