US, UK, Russia, China to France, international locations flag use of drones, cryptocurrency

The menace posed by drones, terror funding via cryptocurrency and using web by terrorist outfits had been among the many key considerations raised Saturday on the UN Security Council’s Counter-Terrorism Committee assembly in New Delhi.

Government representatives and specialists from a number of international locations expressed their views on using rising applied sciences by terrorists.

At the top of the two-day assembly, the Delhi Declaration of the CTC took notice of the threats and referred to as on members to take measures to counter them.

The declaration expressed “deep concern that terrorism… has become more diffuse… aided by terrorists’ adaptation to, and the use of new and emerging technologies… while recognizing that innovations in technology may offer significant counter-terrorism opportunities.”

It famous with “additional concern, the increasing global misuse of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) by terrorists to conduct attacks against, and incursions into critical infrastructure and soft targets or public places, and to traffic drugs and arms”.

Expressing concern over the entry that teams such because the Islamic State and Al Qaeda need to drones, the declaration referred to as on member states “to develop a comprehensive understanding of the risks posed by terrorist use of UAS and of specific terrorist groups’ systems for acquiring UAS and their components”.

It additionally requested members to develop measures to discourage, detect and disrupt the acquisition and use of drones by terrorists, and interact in partnerships with the personal sector to this finish.

Representatives from international locations corresponding to China, Russia and France argued for a united method in opposition to the drone menace and demanded a regulatory framework that may very well be adopted by member states.

“UAS remains attractive for malicious actors as they are relatively accessible, affordable, and require minimal training… A whole of society approach is needed to counter terrorist exploitation of UAS,” mentioned Madan Oberoi, Executive Director for Technology and Innovation with the Interpol.

Oberoi mentioned an Interpol report had highlighted drones as an uneven menace to legislation enforcement and that businesses and trade have to work collectively to counter them.

“The report said the drone appears to be an asymmetric threat for law enforcement agencies. It also recommended a unified drone threat reporting system, further law enforcement engagement with industry and strong need for legislation and regulation to protect the restricted airspace of national interest,” he mentioned.

The US mentioned previously one yr there had been an uptick in assaults involving the weaponized aerial techniques globally. “Terrorists and other non-state actors have used UAS to attack critical infrastructure and military and diplomatic facilities. We should continue sharing best practices building on existing efforts such as GCTFS Berlin memorandum on good practices to counter terrorist use of UAS,” the US consultant mentioned.

UAE mentioned the worldwide group wanted to arrange a mechanism to stop procurement of UAS elements by terrorist teams, techniques for deterrence, monitoring and neutralization of drones and prosecution of perpetrators.

China too flagged the challenges of UAVs and using web by terrorist teams. “We should build a closed network in cyberspace and pay attention to UAS technology and enforce regulatory monitoring and strengthen defense systems,” the Chinese consultant mentioned.

Taeil Kang, Capacity Building Director of World Customs Organisation, mentioned they had been within the strategy of growing AI-enabled X-rays to curb unlawful import and export of drones.

Justin Hustwitt, Coordinator with the UN’s Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team, recounted how IS and Al Qaeda had been more and more utilizing drones to mount assaults internationally and that there have been reviews of them growing bigger drones to mount lengthy distance assaults.

“The challenge in countering drones is the lack of harmonised regulatory jurisdictions. An international regulatory framework is required,” Hustwitt mentioned.

On the menace from cryptocurrencies, the Delhi Declarartion referred to as on member states to “consider and assess risks associated with… prepaid cards, virtual assets and… crowdfunding platforms, and implement risk-based anti-money-laundering (AML) and counter-terrorist financing (CFT) regulations, monitoring, and supervision to providers of relevant services”.

The declaration acknowledged the “essential” function of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) on this regard. It requested member states to reinforce the traceability and transparency of monetary transactions.

FATF Vice President Elisa de Anda Madrazo rued the dearth of laws on cryptocurrencies in lots of international locations and referred to as for pressing motion.

“We issued our first report on the risk over a decade ago and we also issued what is the first set of standards for visual assets three years ago in 2019. The implementation is going far too slow. Only 60 countries have started to regulate this sector and to try to supervise it. The rest of the world doesn’t have regulation and most of them have not even started a legislative process. This is very concerning because while standards take time to be implemented, there is a sense of urgency here and until most jurisdictions implement these new rules, it will not be possible to start implementing the travel rule (account of a transaction),” she mentioned.

Russia too raised a pink flag over cryptocurrencies.

“Terrorists are diversifying their funding patters. The so-called crowdfunding platforms seem to be very popular among terror groups. The very active use by terrorist groups of crypto exchanges is a big challenge. There is still no control over cryptocurrency even as terrorists continue to use them at a time they (virtual currency) have achieved wider popularity. This is benefitting terrorist groups who are highly adaptive to constantly changing conditions and are quickly learning how to perform their transactions online,” the Russian consultant mentioned.

The UK mentioned it was taking a world method to sort out the issue of terrorist use of web and social media.

“We work in collaboration with our international partners and technology companies to ensure there are no safe spaces for terrorists to operate online. We are ensuring that law enforcement can combat terrorist financing such as crypto assets and we funding the development of counter drone technologies,” the UK consultant mentioned.

The Delhi Declarartion famous “with concern the increased use, in a globalized society, by terrorists and their supporters of Internet… for recruitment and incitement to commit terrorist acts, as well as for the financing, planning, and preparation of their activities”.

The UAE mentioned the efforts to take away terror content material from the web was problem as world had no consensus on definition of terrorism.

“Terrorists have harnessed the internet to pursue radicalization, incitement to violence and recruitment. Efforts to moderate and remove such content has been challenging. One reason being the absence of international agreement on what constitutes terrorism. Nevertheless we could combat such content with a strong, fact-based, effectively deployed counter narrative that promotes tolerance, social cohesion, and peaceful co-existence. Stengthening cooperation between different sections of society is crucial for these efforts,” the UAE consultant mentioned.

The Delhi declaration emphasised the necessity for member states “to continue voluntary cooperation with the private sector and civil society, to develop and implement more effective means to counter the use of new and emerging technologies, including the Internet, for terrorist purposes”.

Russia mentioned that in response to its information, 90 per cent of terrorist assaults globally had been carried out by deploying innovative rising communication applied sciences.

“Recruitment is 80 per cent relying on online technologies and we see more cases where terrorist attacks are being demonstrated publicly as well as online. Considering use of technology to support terrorist violent purposes, governments quite often underperform. We must curb the deployment of internet technologies by terrorists,” the Russian consultant mentioned.