By Briana Vannozzi
Correspondent
It’s the proliferation of ISIS throughout the world. The terrorist group’s use of the digital domain to recruit and train members, and the large swaths of ungoverned territory they control in the Mid-East that has the heads of national security agencies continuing to call ISIS one of our greatest threats to the homeland.
“In my 35 years of national security experience, I have never seen a time when the volume and complexity of the national security challenges we face has been greater,” said Central Intelligence Agency Director John Brennan.
Brennan addressed a room full of local, state and federal law enforcement officers today. He was the featured speaker at the 10th annual Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness conference.
“The fact that ISIL has been able to put down such roots in Syria and Iraq, been able to use the resources that they’ve been able to hold hostage and propagate their narrative in so many ways, this is a challenge that’s going to be with us for many years to come,” Brennan said.
But Brennan told the conference the U.S. has turned the momentum on the battlefield in Syria and Iraq. And that unlike our fight against Al-Qaeda, countries — including the likes of China and Russia — are more willing to aid U.S. efforts because of ISIL’s destabilizing effects around the globe.
“In this new terrorist threat landscape, which is much more decentralized and diffuse than it has ever been, our local and state agencies are on the front lines,” said New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness Director Chris Rodriguez.
In New Jersey, one of the biggest threats remains homegrown style extremism — lone wolf attacks — coupled with cyber terrorism.
“I strongly strongly encourage all of you who have any type of homeland security preparedness, law enforcement intelligence responsibility, to be as proactive as possible in understanding what is going on in that digital domain,” Brennan said.
“New Jersey businesses are not just at some risk for cyber attacks,or assaults or data breaches they are at high risk,” said Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno.
Guadagno supports the federal government’s recent announcement they’ll start formally sharing details of new digital threats with private businesses.
“I think we’ll see five to seven regional terrorist outfits around the world that we have to track. Which will test our capacity well beyond anything we’ve ever seen before. It will be more dynamic. There will be cyber terrorists mixed with physical real terrorists,” said Clint Watts, senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute.
So, the message from today? To be successful, combating terrorism must be looked at as a two-part fight — both online and on the ground.
