Blogger Nitesh Dhanjani has returned to the US military warning about the potential for Twitter and other micro-blogging platforms to be employed by terrorists but updated the argument with some scenarios prompted by the Mumbai coverage.
Being careful to make it clear that he isn’t claiming an “evilness” for the micro-blogging platform, he says; “The goal of this article is to spread awareness and raise consciousness. The ideas presented in this article may appear far fetched at the moment, but with the explosive growth and integration of social applications into the lives of the Generation Y culture, it is increasingly probable that malicious parties are likely to leverage social media channels as time progresses. I feel it is important that we have a good grasp of how criminals may utilize these channels so we better understand the tactics of enemies we are likely to deal with in the future.”
The long post looks, among other things, at a scenario of blood donation pleas being sabotaged by people with an intention to undermine genuine rescue attempts in such events.
He also suggests that on the scene “citizen journalists” could become unwitting suppliers of useful data to terrorists needing to establish potential resistance by being remotely manipulated to provide specific information that a criminal may be seeking.
All of his observations are undoubtedly a potential outcome of malicious use of the tools available and the post is a thought-provoking one.
What actions an individual (or a government for that matter) might realistically want to take in response to this potential threat remains less clear.
Dim Sum Digital 
Don’t you think this type of paranoia induced coverage is exactly what leads to a society inhibited by fear and sceptical of new developments in technology? This type of society is in turn easier to manipulate. I am not saying that terrorist attacks are not a real threat but the majority of people are unlikely to ever encounter one first hand. The sensationalist journalism surrounding such issues makes them seem far more common place than they acually are and feeds a culture of anxiety which stops people from enjoying life.
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Twitter noise can be such a source of noise into the intelligence community. Watching Twitter traffic will require similar infrastructure as the one used for listening to international phone calls. It would be easier to get hold of the Pakistani ISI agents supporting the terrorists and taking them out in a spectacular fashion. That will reduce the state sponsorship of non-state actors.
btw.
Here are the events leading to the deaths of Salaskar, Kamte, and Karkare.
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@ Esther I’m not quite sure which coverage you are referring to as “paranoia induced”. The issue of security is being looked at by the intelligence sservices as can be evidenced by the links to the US report in the post. Its simply a fact of life that all forms of communication could be used for terrorism or for having fun or for doing work or for contacting family members etc.etc The use isn’t specific to the tool. Surely a society that is properly aware of the threats and opportunities is much harder to manipulate?
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