UTEP Prepares El Paso for a Technical Terrorist Attack

The University of Texas at El Paso is thousands of miles away from the terrorist activities and improvised explosive devices (IEDs) that blow up regularly in the streets of Afghanistan and Iraq. But as the recent discovery of a possible terrorist plot by a Denver airport shuttle driver unfolds, it is clear that the United States is not immune to terrorist activities at home.

UTEP’s Center for Defense Systems Research brought together counterterrorism experts from the U.S. and Europe to educate El Paso’s law enforcement communities and first responders about the reality of terrorism and the threat of IEDs.

The two-day symposium on Oct. 29 and 30, titled “The Technical Terrorist: Understanding and Countering the Threat,” was the first ever in El Paso.

“It is a great privilege for UTEP to host such an event for our community,” said Oscar A. Perez, Jr., managing director for UTEP’s Center for Defense Systems Research. “Knowledge of those threats that exist in our world can only prepare us to better defend ourselves from those who wish to harm us.”

Troy Phillips, a United Kingdom expert on information warfare and counter-terrorism, defined technical terrorists.

“A technical terrorist is someone who uses bombs and threats. This person is adaptive, practiced and has a network of terrorists,” Phillips said. “This person knows how to work with the media and is absolutely a part of everything we live and breathe.”

More than a hundred guests with police, military and homeland security backgrounds listened as keynote speaker Doherty, Ph.D., with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, discussed combating terrorists in the U.S.

“In the last 50 years there have been 700 to 800 events in the U.S. that could be classified as terrorists’ events. It’s about the same per month in Iraq and Afghanistan,” Doherty said.

She pointed out the critical needs for detection of homemade explosives, network attacks and vehicle IEDs.

“It’s only a matter of time before an IED goes off in the U.S.,” Phillips said.

Expert also discussed academia’s role in countering the threat; applying lessons learned from the global arena to the El Paso border; modern day electronic warfare tactics, techniques and procedures; and technology necessary to combat technical terrorists.

Luc Longpre, Ph.D., computer science professor at UTEP, explored alternatives to securing personal information stored in government databases.

The first day of the symposium focused on understanding and defining a technical terrorist by providing the government, industry and academic perspectives on terrorism. The second day offered solutions for countering the threat.