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Recent technological advances have transformed the sectors of security and defense. While creating challenges for NATO and its partner countries, this has also led to opportunities. Technology has facilitated the emergence of new and unprecedented threats, as terrorists and other non-NATO state actors utilize new technologies to exploit personal data, gather and misuse information and devise new methods. On the other hand, AI technology in particular has the potential to detect cyber intrusions, predict terrorist acts and contribute to the development of better surveillance and reconnaissance systems and more effective responses. It is therefore of vital importance that NATO and its partners keep their knowledge of these modern technologies up to date. This book presents papers from the NATO Advanced Research Workshop (ARW) entitled: Practical Applications of Advanced Technologies for Enhancing Security and Defense Capabilities: Perspectives and Challenges for the Western Balkans, held online from 14 to 21 October 2021. The main objective of the ARW was to explore the application of advanced technology for security and defense purposes and explore the development of strategies for regional cooperation between public, academic and private actors. The book also covers the legal, technical and ethical challenges which can emerge in the deployment of AI and other advanced technologies in the defense and security sectors. The book will be of interest to all those seeking a better understanding of the technical aspects of the threat environment and responses in the region and wishing to explore the use of AI and other advanced technologies in counter terrorism.

In common with many other parts of the world, the region of South Eastern Europe (SEE) faces a significant terrorist threat. Countering this threat represents a major security challenge for government agencies in the region and their partners, and although important counterterrorism advances have been made by NATO nations over the past decade, the complex history, geography, culture, socio-economic and political dynamics of the area mean that these advances need to be contextualized and modified to suit the regional situation. This book presents the contributions to the NATO Advanced Training Course (ATC)'Countering Terrorism in South Eastern Europe'held over five days at Lake Ohrid, Macedonia, in February 2016. The conference hosted presenters from 15 different countries, and government representatives from the nations of the Balkan region, including Macedonia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, and Kosovo. The course consisted of five central priorities: contemporary global terrorist practices, radicalization processes and recruitment techniques; terrorist use of cyberspace; legal aspects of countering terrorism; building resilient societies; with the final priority concentrating on SEE counterterrorism. Presenters discussed a wide range of topics, including radicalization and cyberterrorism, all aimed at countering the real and evolving threat of terrorism in the region.

As the confluence of networks that is the modern Internet grows to encompass everything from nuclear reactors to home appliances, the affordances offered to the average citizen grow as well—but so, too, do the resources made available to those with malicious intent. Through the rise of Big Data and the Internet of Things, terrorist organizations today have been freed from geographic and logistical confines and now have more power than ever before to strike the average citizen directly at home. This, coupled with the inherently asymmetrical nature of cyberwarfare—which grants great advantage to the attacker—has created an unprecedented national security risk that both governments and their citizens are woefully ill-prepared to face. The Handbook of Research on Civil Society and National Security in the Era of Cyber Warfare addresses the problem of cyber terrorism head-on, first through a review of current literature, and then through a series of progressive proposals aimed at researchers, professionals, and policymakers. Touching on such subjects as cyber-profiling, hacktivism, and digital counterterrorism, this collection offers the tools to begin formulating a ground-up resiliency to cybersecurity threats that starts at the civilian level.