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More About This Title Using Social Media for Global Security
English
Essential reading for cybersecurity professionals, security analysts, policy experts, decision-makers, activists, and law enforcement!
During the Arab Spring movements, the world witnessed the power of social media to dramatically shape events. Now this timely book shows government decision-makers, security analysts, and activists how to use the social world to improve security locally, nationally, and globally--and cost-effectively. Authored by two technology/behavior/security professionals, Using Social Media for Global Security offers pages of instruction and detail on cutting-edge social media technologies, analyzing social media data, and building crowdsourcing platforms.
The book teaches how to collect social media data and analyze it to map the social networks of terrorists and sex traffickers, and forecast attacks and famines. You will learn how to coalesce communities through social media to help catch murderers, coordinate disaster relief, and collect intelligence about drug smuggling from hard-to-reach areas. Also highlighting dramatic case studies drawn from the headlines, this crucial book is a must-read.
Illustrates linguistic, correlative, and network analysis of OSINTExamines using crowdsourcing technologies to work and engage with populations globally to solve security problemsExplores how to ethically deal with social media data without compromising people’s rights to privacy and freedom of expressionShows activists fighting against oppressive regimes how they can protect their identities onlineIf you're responsible for maintaining local, national or global security, you'll want to read Using Social Media for Global Security.
English
Ravi Gupta is an entrepreneur who develops and commercializes technologies that use biological principles. He has created social media platforms, data processing algorithms, and crowdsourcing techniques to understand and solve security problems.
Hugh Brooks is a security consultant for government and private clients. With a focus on creativity, he has produced innovative solutions for crowd-driven applications, behavior modeling, mobile health and education, and cyber security.
English
Introduction xxv
Part I Understanding the Influence of Social Media Globally 1
Chapter 1 Understanding Social Media’s Impact on Global Security 3
Organizing Revolutions and Riots 4
Arab Spring 4
London Riots 8
Recruiting Terrorists and Encouraging Attacks 10
Glorifying and Promoting Gang Culture and Violence 11
Acknowledging Social Media’s Impact 13
Summary 14
Chapter 2 Understanding Global Social Media Use 17
Defining Social Media 17
Grasping Social Media’s Popularity and Appeal 19
Growth of Social Media 19
Philosophy Behind Social Media 20
Social Media Technologies 22
Platform Types 22
Device Types 29
Social Media Use Differences Globally 34
North America (U.S. and Canada) 35
Latin America 36
Europe 36
East Asia 37
Southeast Asia 38
South Asia 38
Middle East 38
Africa 39
Summary 40
Part II Analyzing Social Media Data to Solve Security Problems 43
Chapter 3 Introduction to Social Media Analytics 45
Defining Analysis 45
What Is Analysis 46
Limits of Analysis 46
What Is Not Analysis 47
Analysis Overview 48
Preliminary Procedure 49
The Analytical Processes 52
Analysis Dos and Don’ts 58
Analysis Methodologies 61
Variables 62
Methodologies in this Book 63
Methodologies Not in this Book 68
Summary 69
Chapter 4 Collecting and Managing Social Media Data 71
Understanding Social Media Data 71
Determining Collection Needs 74
What Data Will Solve the Problem? 75
How Much Data Is Enough? 76
Who Has the Data? 79
Will They Give the Data? 82
Collecting the Data 84
Data Framework 85
APIs 85
RSS Feeds 89
Crawlers 89
Filtering the Data 91
Storing and Managing the Data 93
Relational Databases 94
Non-Relational Databases 96
Third-Party Solutions 99
Summary 102
Chapter 5 Mapping and Analyzing Social Networks 105
Key Concepts and Defi nitions 105
Elements of Social Networks 107
Infl uence and Memes in Social Networks 110
Algorithms in SNA 111
Choosing SNA Software Program 113
First Example — Identify Influencers 115
Creating the Data Set 116
Visually Map the Network 121
Analyze the Network 124
Second Example — Identify Infl uencers 130
Create the Data Set 131
Visually Map the Network 131
Analyze the Network 132
Third Example — Determine Top Memes 134
Create the Data Set 135
Analyze the Network 136
Summary 137
Chapter 6 Understanding and Forecasting Events 141
Introduction to Analyzing Events 141
Social Media Data as Intelligence 142
Monitoring Attacks through Social Media 143
Understanding Forecasting 145
Forecasting vs. Predicting 146
Forecasting Properly 147
Conducting Language and Sentiment Analysis 149
Determining Authorship 151
Tracking and Forecasting the Behavior of Rioting Violent Crowds 156
Correlation and Regression Analysis 161
Creating Tools to Provide Early Warnings for Famines with Artificial Data 163
Volumetric Analysis 170
Creating Tools to Provide Early Warnings for Famines with Artificial Data 170
Summary 174
Part III Crowdsourcing Intelligence, Solutions, and Influence 177
Chapter 7 Introduction to Crowdsourcing 179
What Is Crowdsourcing? 179
Defining Crowdsourcing and Its Relevance 180
Bolstering Crowdsourcing with Social Media 182
Why Use Crowdsourcing? 184
Solve More Problems and Get More Information 184
Work Quickly 185
Work Discreetly 186
Save Money 186
Relevant Examples of Crowdsourcing 187
OpenIDEO 187
DARPA Shredder Challenge 189
GCHQ Spy Recruitment Challenge 190
M-Farm 190
Knowing When to Crowdsource 191
When to Crowdsource 191
When Not to Crowdsource 193
Summary 194
Chapter 8 Building and Running Crowdsourcing Platforms 197
Overview of the Process 197
Select Objective and Scope 199
Refine Problem to Establish Clear Objective 199
Decide the Scope of the Platform 199
Analyze the Target Audience and Media Environment 200
Determine the Target Audience 201
Analyze the Target Audience 203
Analyze the Media Environment 204
Get the Information to Do the Analyses 205
Design the Platform 206
Determine the Platform’s Look and Feel 207
Determine the Platform’s Incentive Structure 209
Build the Platform 214
Market the Platform 215
Manage the Platform 218
Measure the Platform’s Performance 220
Create and Choose Metrics 220
Collect Data to Populate Metrics 221
Wash, Rinse, Repeat 222
Summary 222
Chapter 9 Crowdsourcing Intelligence 225
Understanding the Scope of Crowdsourced Intelligence 225
Uniqueness of Crowdsourced Intelligence 226
Direct and Indirect Crowdsourced Intelligence 226
Appreciating the Limits of Crowdsourcing Intelligence 228
Uncooperative Target Audience 228
Higher Risk for Participants 229
Misinformation 229
Misinterpretation 230
Hawthorne Effect 231
Tweaking the Process for Intelligence Collection Platforms 231
Collect Intelligence from Hard-to-Reach Areas through SMS 233
Define Objective and Scope 233
Analyze the Target Audience and Media Environment 234
Design the Platform 236
Build the Platform 238
Market the Platform 241
Manage the Platform 241
Measure the Platform’s Performance 241
Wash, Rinse, Repeat 242
Collect Intelligence from the Community for Law Enforcement 242
Define Objective and Scope 243
Analyze the Target Audience and Media Environment 244
Design the Platform 245
Build the Platform 250
Market the Platform 251
Manage the Platform 251
Measure the Platform’s Performance 252
Wash, Rinse, Repeat 252
Collect Intelligence to Bolster Disaster Relief 253
Define Objective and Scope 254
Analyze the Target Audience and Media Environment 254
Design the Platform 255
Build the Platform 257
Market the Platform 260
Manage the Platform 261
Measure the Platform’s Performance 262
Wash, Rinse, Repeat 263
Summary 263
Chapter 10 Crowdsourcing Solutions 265
Understanding the Scope of Crowdsourced Solutions 265
Formulating the Right Type of Problem 266
Formulating the Right Crowdsourcing Approach 269
Appreciating the Limits of Crowdsourcing Solutions 274
Unsolvable Problem 274
Incorrect Solutions 274
Adversarial Participants 274
Political Fallout 275
Tweaking the Process for Solution Platforms 275
Crowdsourcing Translations during Disaster Relief 276
Define Objective and Scope 277
Analyze Target Audience and Media Environment 278
Design the Platform 279
Build the Platform 281
Market the Platform 284
Manage the Platform 285
Measure the Platform’s Performance 286
Wash, Rinse, Repeat 286
Crowdsource Tools to Identify Antagonistic Actors in Video Feeds 287
Define Objective and Scope 288
Analyze Target Audience and Media Environment 289
Design the Platform 290
Build the Platform 294
Market the Platform 294
Manage the Platform 295
Measure the Platform’s Performance 296
Wash, Rinse, Repeat 296
Summary 297
Chapter 11 Influencing Crowds 301
Understanding the Scope of Influencing through Crowdsourcing 301
Delineating Influence Goals 302
Grasping How Influence Happens 304
Process of Influencing Others 305
Conceptual Overview of Influence Process 306
Real-World Implications of Influence Process 307
Appreciating the Limits of Influencing Crowds 309
Unrealistic Expectations 309
Adversarial Participants 309
Political Fallout 310
Unknown Unknowns 310
Tweaking the Process for Influence Platforms 310
Influencing to Collect Intelligence on Corrupt Officials 311
Define Objectives and Scope 312
Analyze Target Audience and the Media Environment 312
Define Objectives and Scope, Redux 313
Design the Platform 315
Build the Platform 321
Market the Platform 321
Moderate the Platform 322
Measure the Platform’s Performance 323
Wash, Rinse, Repeat 323
Summary 323
Part IV Broadening Your Horizon 327
Chapter 12 Advanced and Emerging Analytical Methodologies 329
Expanding the Scope of Analysis 329
Cluster Analysis 330
The Process of Clustering 331
The Relevance of Clustering 333
Geo-Spatial Network Analysis 335
The Process of Geo-Spatial Network Analysis 336
The Relevance of Geo-Spatial Network Analysis 337
Agent Modeling 341
The Relevance of Agent Modeling 342
The Process of Agent Modeling 343
Summary 349
Chapter 13 Delivering Services through Crowdsourcing 353
Delivering Education 353
Understanding How People Learn 354
Delivering Education through Tablets and Mobile
Phones (First Method) 356
Delivering Education through Mobile Phones Only (Second Method) 361
Side-Benefits of Delivering Education 362
Delivering Health 363
Diagnosing Health Problems 363
Collecting Health Information 366
Summary 369
Chapter 14 Protecting Privacy and Yourself 371
Considering Privacy and Free Speech 371
Reasons to Consider Privacy and Free Speech 372
Appreciating the Complexity Involved 372
Acting Legally and Ethically 373
Analyze Non-Personal Open Source Intelligence 374
Follow Rules of Social Media Data Sources 374
Do Not Involve Children 375
Identify Extra Restrictions 375
Do Not Store People’s Personal Information 376
Help Your Participants Protect Themselves 376
Solicit Professional Help When Possible 377
Value Privacy and Strive for a Good Reputation 377
Imagine and Prepare for the Worst-Case Scenario 378
Be Aware of Changes in Laws and Norms 378
Protecting Your Identity and Speech 378
Set Basic Security Settings 380
Do Not Post Sensitive Information 380
Be Wary of Enabling Location Services 380
Use Technologies That Anonymize You 380
Use Social Media Platforms That Hide Your Identity 382
Identify Who Is Behind What and Why 382
Use Common Sense and Be Reasonable 382
Summary 384
Appendix Extra Information and Resources 387
Social Media Platforms 387
Software Tools 389
Index 391
