Simon Riley, a governmental subject matter expert on threat replication, behavioural detection and situational awareness, shares his personal views on countering terrorism.
My approach to countering terrorism centres on tackling the basics first – removing the “low-hanging fruit”. This forces those acting with a terrorist mindset to work harder, take more risks and, ultimately, fail. For me, the most effective counter-terrorism measures sit in the deterrence space and always will.
These measures are proportionate to the real world and designed to deter the majority of terrorist activity, in all its forms – past, present and still to come. This approach has delivered significant successes and, importantly, it simplifies what should always be treated as a simple problem.
These ideas have evolved from my previous and current experience. I protect journalists that other states want to harm; I defend the physical and cyber environments of investment organisations targeted by Organised Crime Groups (OCGs) and their backers; I wrap personal safety procedures around politicians and government employees; I provide core protective security for public and private buildings throughout the UK; and I operate across the political protest and direct action space. It is from this context that I can share the measures we should rely on when we counter terrorism.
First step: remove emotion
When contemplating a proactive and protective response to terrorist threat, I believe emotion is our Achilles’ heel. Removing emotion from our response should be the first measure we implement.
Without emotion, we can better identify the threat, the methodology and the potential outcomes. I will always double down on the impact of emotion because it so often leads to fear – and fear, in itself, is a win for terrorism and terrorists.
Four solid strands
Whether we are dealing with political protest, foreign influence, extremist individuals or organised groups, my recommended counter measures – the “game” – rest on four solid strands.
These four strands are the low-hanging fruit we must address first: Belief; Testing and Training; Proactivity; and The Castle – each outlined below.
Belief
I need people – the public, politicians, journalists, soldiers, police, security staff and organisations – to believe that terrorist activity can and will take place around them, and that it can be seen, responded to and deterred.
In my experience, terrorist activity is almost always planned, highly focused and, crucially, visible in its preparation phase. Belief includes the confidence to know that what you have seen, heard or sensed is suspicious and relevant to you and the world around you.
Belief is best nurtured by showing the reality of activity around our people and places, but it should never dwell on the ultimate, catastrophic outcomes of terrorism. Doing so only scares, overloads people emotionally and undermines the personal empowerment we are trying to build.
I need all my people and places to understand what terrorist activity looks like – what a “follow” looks like, how insider threat manifests, where we are most vulnerable – and to hold a genuine belief that they are – or could be – a target.
Belief is everything. It is the ultimate counter-terrorism measure and it leads to the force multiplier of “eyes and ears” that we so desperately need.
Testing and training
We then need to turn that belief into practice. The ability to put real information in front of the target audience, and then ask them to replicate hostile activity (such as reconnaissance) against a site or individual, creates a cycle of realistic practice, personal learning and honest evaluation of whatever is being tested.
In my work, it is now standard for military and law enforcement personnel to replicate terrorist activity against a private sector venue, and for the on-site security team to identify, respond to and report what they see. We do this weekly, monthly and annually, and it creates a culture of genuine protective security. Every live and current operational threat is dissected in the learning environment, then replicated, refined as new threats are identified, and shared as part of a common pool of expertise.
Proactivity
To be effective, we must also move away from the mindset of the last decade. In both private and public security, our goal should be to push beyond what we have always done and consider what we should do differently. Some long standing standards remain vital, but many need renewal, fresh context and new energy.
When I place teams on the ground, I think not only about what the threat has done and is doing, but also what it might do next. Whether the adversary is physical, cyber or hybrid, we must get ahead of them and anticipate the next move.
The Castle
Finally, we must look beyond the obvious. We protect workplaces, venues and events – and we must, because that is our basic standard. But we also need to ask where the terrorist adversary will operate once the “Castle” becomes too difficult to breach.
The people and places I protect remain viable targets long after they leave the office or event. I always ask my audiences: “Who is watching you when you are living your normal life?” Who could follow you, who could watch your house or your children’s school, who is on the plane with you, who is drinking coffee at the next table?
As a society, we leave public and private space as a near free zone for the terrorist adversary, while stacking the Castle behind layers of physical and other security measures.
Most of my work focuses on the threat I see away from the protected site – in the real world. When a journalist is stabbed in the afternoon, far from their place of work, it underlines the importance of this fourth strand of counter-terrorism measures.
Getting the basics right
The appropriate basics, done well, are the gold standard. We need to look back to understand the past, be clear-eyed about the present and predict the future. Terrorism frightens, has a disproportionate impact on individuals, and has generated too much smoke and mirrors. The time has come for that to change.
“You can’t depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus.” – Mark Twain
Simon Riley
