Reference no: EM131438095

Within the next decade and other than the IED and on the broader spectrum Lone Wolf has to be considered one of the most successful terrorist tactics available. As intelligence agencies gain ground on the use of social media and preventing terrorist attacks more groups are breaking away and forming either splinter cells or singular terrorists cells also referred to a the lone wolf. Mark Thompson (2013) of Time magazine explained terrorist attacks from Anders Breivik in Norway, who murdered scores of young people in a bombing and mass-shooting attack, to Nidal Malik Hasan in the United States, who killed many of his fellow soldiers after opening fire at a military base, lone wolves have recently demonstrated that they can be as dangerous as organized terrorist groups. When we think terrorist, the first thing that usually comes to mind is the Islamic State, Boko Haram or Al Qaeda. Yet the individual terrorist or even pairs including the Boston Bombers have proven to be among the most innovative, creative, and dangerous.

The ability for any individual terrorist to walk in to their local hardware store and purchase enough material to create an IED capable of catastrophic injuries is worryingly high even in this day and age. Brothers Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and Tamerlan Tsarnaev were both able to demonstrate by using an everyday pressure cooker and some light explosives they were able to kill three innocent people and injuring several hundred others including 16 who lost limbs.