Cyber Crime and Cyber Terrorism

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CHAPTER 4
Police investigation processes
Police investigations subsequently revealed that Tsouli had 
€
2.5million worth of 
fraudulent transactions passing through his accounts which he used to support and 
finance terrorist activity. Pleading guilty to charges of incitement to commit acts of 
terrorism Tsouli received a 16-year custodial sentence to be served at Belmarsh High 
Security Prison in London where, perhaps unsurprisingly, he has been denied access 
to the Internet. The then National Coordinator of Terrorist Investigations, Deputy 
Assistant Commissioner Peter Clarke, said that Tsouli:
provided a link to core al Qa’ida, to the heart of al Qa’ida and the wider network 
that he was linking into through the internet”, going on to say: “what it did show 
us was the extent to which they could conduct operational planning on the inter-
net. It was the first virtual conspiracy to murder that we had seen (
Staniforth and 
PNLD, 2013
).
The case against Tsoouli was the first in the UK which quickly brought about the 
realization that cyber-terrorism presented a real and present danger to the national 
security of the UK. A decade has now passed since the arrest of Tsouli, and law 
enforcement practitioners have come to understand that the internet clearly provides 
positive opportunities for global information exchange, communication, networking, 
education, and is a major tool in the fight against crime, but a new and emerging con-
temporary threat continues to impact upon the safety and security of the communities 
they seek to protect. The Internet has been hijacked and exploited by terrorists not 
only to progress attack planning but to radicalize and recruit new operatives to their 
cause (Awan and Blackmore, 2013).
The case against Tsouli served to raise concerns amongst security profession-
als that there was a distant lack of understanding by police investigators between 
the disciplines of crime and terrorism, at both a strategic and tactical level. To pro-
vide clarity, investigators must understand that first and foremost terrorism is a 
crime, a crime which has serious consequences and one which requires to be distin-
guished from other types of crime, but a crime nonetheless. Individuals who commit 
terrorist-related offences contrary to domestic and international law are subject to 
the processes of a criminal justice system and those who are otherwise believed to 
be involved in terrorism are subject to restrictive executive actions. However, the key 
features of terrorism that distinguish it from other forms of criminality are its core 
motivations. Terrorism may be driven politics, religion, or a violent and extremist 
ideology (
Staniforth, 2012
). These core objectives are unlike other criminal motiva-
tions such as for personal gain or in the pursuit of revenge. Terrorists may be driven 
by anyone or any combination of the core motivations but the primary motivator 
is political. Terrorism is a very powerful way in which to promote beliefs and has 
potentially serious consequences for society. If allowed to grow and flourish, ter-
rorism can undermine national security, it can cause instability to a country, and in 
the most extreme of circumstances can lead to war. Terrorism seeks to undermine 
state legitimacy, freedom, and democracy. These are a very different set of motiva-
tions and outcomes when compared against other types of crime. This is the very 
reason why tackling terrorism nationally and internationally is an endeavor led by 

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