Scientist claims he can predict ISIS barbarians’ attacks before they happen
Extremist zealots leave social media footprints which can be analysed to expose their sick plans and save innocent lives
We all have a friend that shares just that little bit too much information on social media.
But it turns out that terrorists do the same - and it could be their undoing.
An American scientist has devised a way of analysing extremist social media "chatter" which could one day allow cops to predict ISIS atrocities before they take place.
The system works by scanning through cyber-jihadis' online posts and detecting tell-tale signs which suggest an attack is on the way.
It is reminiscent of the film Minority Report, in which crimes were predicted and then stopped before they had taken place.
"We were able to see how people were materializing around certain social groups," said Neil Johnson, a physicist from the University of Miama.
"The question is: can there be a signal of how people are coming collectively together to do something?"
Johnson applies the laws of physics and chemistry to study "the collective behaviour of people".
He examined the way ISIS zealots form online groups and spead ideas over social media, watching as hashtags and other "signals" circulated through groups of extremists.
ISIS supporters tend to flock together online ahead of an attack, with group activity peaking in the days and weeks before an atrocity.
“Much of the scientific community is focusing on different explanations as to why social media is so important, and I think we found research that presents a kind of crystallization method, looking at the dynamics of these groups and how they crystalize, appear, and morph into other groups," Johnson added.
Once he worked out which groups to follow, the scientist employed a mathematical formula to highlight signs which show a group is active and warn that an attack could be on the way.
Johnson claimed lone wolf terrorists could be identified using his method, because they often join up with other ISIS supporters in large online terrorist communities, which he referred to as "aggregates", before launching their own attacks.
"Our research suggests that any online ‘lone wolf’ actor will only truly be alone for short periods of time,” he added.
“As a result of the coalescence process that we observe in the online activity, any such lone wolf was either recently in an aggregate or will soon be in another one.
"With time, we would be able to track the trajectories of individuals through this ecology of aggregates."
We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online news team? Email us at tips@the-sun.co.uk or call 0207 782 4368
