5th Annual
Conference
Mathematical Methods in Counterterrorism
Abstracts
Communications and security in terrorist networks: a graph-theoretic model
Georg Gunther
Sir Wilfred Grenfell College
Memorial University of Newfoundland
Abstract:
Abstract:
A terrorist network can be modeled by setting up a graph whose
vertices represent the individuals in the network, and whose edges
represent lines of communication. Two criteria must be met. The first
is that of communication: any two agents must be able to pass messages
to each other, either directly or through one or more intermediaries,
and the higher the degree of connectivity in the modeling graph, the
more efficient the level of communication becomes. The second is that
of internal security: an individual who is either arrested or
subverted is in a position to betray everyone he knows; it is clear
that a high degree of connectivity makes the network increasingly
vulnerable to the effects of such counter-terrorist interventions.
Thus the need for efficient communications and the desire for a high
degree of internal security place conflicting demands on the
communication-structure of the network. This leads naturally to a
number of optimization questions. For example, knowing that some of
the individuals will be arrested, with the subsequent betrayal of
everyone they know, how should lines of communication be set up in
order to minimize the effects of such betrayals? A clearer
understanding of structural problems of this type might provide for
counter-terrorist organizations better insights for effective ways of
neutralizing the threat posed by terrorist networks.