Understanding, preventing and addressing the risk of misuse of science and technology by terrorist groups and other non-state actors was the focus of a side event to a recent meeting of the State Parties to the Biological Weapons Convention.
Organized by INTERPOL, the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI) and the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Centre (UNCCT) of the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT), the side-event aimed to recognize the transformative ways new and emerging scientific and technological developments are contributing to global society, while also considering their potential misuse by criminals and terrorist groups to ‘perpetrate malicious actions in an innovative fashion’.
The event brought together representatives of governments, international organizations, the United Nations System, academia and the private sector to analyze the extent to which new technologies pose a potential threat, and better understand how to effectively counter such threats.
INTERPOL has already been taking action in this area, with its CBRNE and Vulnerable Targets Sub-Directorate having begun developing a dedicated Critical Infrastructure Protection Unit through the launch of a flagship initiative addressing the rising threat posed by criminal and terrorist use of unmanned aerial systems drones.
