HSToday Terrorist Threat Forecast Webinar

In January, HSToday released the 2024 Threat Forecast in three parts. In an election year, with tremendous risks and vulnerabilities facing the nation, we take stock each year by asking our cadre of experienced homeland security practitioners what they would like to share with you, our community of readers. This year is our most comprehensive collection to date from a diverse group of professionals who have served both in and outside government.

Key takeaways from the threat forecast include:

– Internal dissension and disagreement puts America and its institutions at great peril, from our elections to foreign policy to border security.

– Misinformation is misunderstood and our ability to combat it will determine the outcome of many critical challenges facing the country.

– Misunderstanding the activity, strength, and strategy of foreign nation’s like Iran, China, Russia, North Korea, and foreign terrorist groups like Hezbollah, Hamas, Al-Qaeda, and ISIS leads to a heightened risk and threat environment

– Our nation must devote more focus to strategic foresight and mitigate against “strategic surprise” by nurturing our people’s understanding, and mastery of, complexity.

– Allowing the potential of AI and quantum computing to benefit us while balancing the need for security will be pivotal to our future – collaboration is key to understanding the technology and its implications. – Specific threats like individual violent perpetrators of terrorism, drones, biological threats, and vulnerabilities like lack of preparedness for natural disasters, continue to increase

– Ransomware is increasing exponentially and poses a considerable threat to critical infrastructure.

Speakers:

Dexter Ingram, Director of the Office of Countering Violent Extremism, U.S. Department of State; Founder, IN Network; Editorial Board Member, HSToday

Mahmut Cengiz, Ph.D., Research Associate Professor, Terrorism, Transnational Crime and Corruption Center (TraCCC)

Moshe Nelson, Former Legislative Fellow, U.S. House Subcommittee for the Middle East; Partner, Guidehouse – Defense and Security Practice

Stephanie Yanta, Supervisory Special Agent, FBI (ret.)

John Halinski, Former Deputy Administrator, U.S. Transportation Security Administration; President, Raloid Corp; Editorial Board Member, Homeland Security Today

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