For 20 years, ISD has delivered field-leading threat detection, analysis and real-world strategies to combat terrorism, extremism and authoritarianism - in all their ideological forms.

Threat Analysis and Prevention

Online ecosystems have an enormous impact on the offline world. Our threat analysis and prevention practice involves monitoring online extremist ideologies, hostile states and other bad actors to identify and mitigate potential threats before they escalate into offline violence or criminal behaviour. Our team of digital analysts and subject matter experts can research and track a range of bad actors – including extremist groups, radicalised individuals and hostile states – to detect and prevent violent threats.

ISD offers a unique rapid response capability: we can provide partners with real-time analysis of incidents (from global conflicts to politically motivated attacks) at nearly any hour. This support helps stakeholders swiftly respond to evolving crises and minimise harm on the ground. Please email us at [email protected] if you would like to learn more about this work.

September 17, 2026

25 years after 9/11, al-Qaeda remains perennially online: The group’s digital ecosystem in 2026

Twenty-five years after 9/11, al-Qaeda remains online, adapting its decentralized ecosystem across platforms, messaging services and AI.

Islamist Extremism, Tech Accountability and Safety, Threat Analysis and Prevention

September 7, 2026

Lessons from Extremism Prevention for Countering Hybrid Threats: A Framework for Policy Response

Threat Analysis and Prevention

May 13, 2026

Building a strategic response to antisemitism in the UK in a changing threat landscape

Antisemitism, Targeted Threats, Hate and Abuse, Tech Legislation and Regulation, Threat Analysis and Prevention

March 11, 2026

Islamic State group activity in the US in 2025

Islamist Extremism, Terrorism and Extremism, Threat Analysis and Prevention

March 10, 2026

The 2025 Annual Review of Plots and Attacks Across the US

Hybrid Extremism and Nihilistic Violence, Islamist Extremism, Terrorism and Extremism, Threat Analysis and Prevention

March 9, 2026

Leaked data ties Canadian Armed Forces members to a ‘white-only’ dating site

Terrorism and Extremism, Threat Analysis and Prevention

January 19, 2026

Landscape Briefing: Mapping Online Male Supremacist Activity in Central and Eastern Europe

Misogyny, Officials and Law Enforcement, Threat Analysis and Prevention

January 12, 2026

True Crime Community associated with tragedy, highlights nihilistic violence’s threat

Hybrid Extremism and Nihilistic Violence, Threat Analysis and Prevention

December 23, 2025

Bondi Beach: The hallmarks of an Islamic State attack 

Antisemitism, Islamist Extremism, Threat Analysis and Prevention

Further Reading

August 10, 2023

Moorish Sovereign Citizens

In the US, Moorish sovereign citizens, identifying as Moors, assert exemption from the law based on historical ties to Morocco.

Hybrid Extremism and Nihilistic Violence, Threat Analysis and Prevention

July 31, 2023

Julia Ebner: Is it too late to stop democracies from being taken over by conspiratorial thinking?

ISD Senior Resident Research Fellow Julia Ebner wrote an op-ed for The Guardian about how conspiracy thinking has seeped into the mainstream.

Democratic Integrity, Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference, Hybrid Extremism and Nihilistic Violence, Information Warfare and Online Manipulation, Terrorism and Extremism, Threat Analysis and Prevention

July 30, 2023

Video games, the new backdrop for the Russian information war

ISD’s Jacob Davey was interviewed by The New York Times about how pro-Kremlin actors are using Minecraft to reach a vulnerable young audience.

Information Warfare and Online Manipulation, Tech Accountability and Safety, Threat Analysis and Prevention

July 29, 2023

Profile on Julia Ebner for The Times: “My life undercover” infiltrating extremist groups

ISD’s Senior Resident Research Fellow Julia Ebner was interviewed by The Times about her research career and her latest book.

Targeted Threats, Hate and Abuse, Terrorism and Extremism, Threat Analysis and Prevention

July 21, 2023

‘Sustainability’ festival cancelled after activists expose it as a conspiracy theorist event

ISD’s Ciarán O’Connor spoke to VICE about the ‘Think Local Festival’ that was cancelled after organisers were exposed as being conspiracy theorists.

Antisemitism, Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference, Hybrid Extremism and Nihilistic Violence, Targeted Threats, Hate and Abuse, Terrorism and Extremism, Threat Analysis and Prevention

June 28, 2023

Telegram, the app of choice for following Yevgeny Prigozhin and Russia’s War in Ukraine

ISD's Jared Holt spoke to the Atlantic about how Telegram became central to follow developments in Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Tech Accountability and Safety, Terrorism and Extremism, Threat Analysis and Prevention

June 9, 2023

A field guide for assessing chances of online-to-offline mobilization 

ISD outlines 6 factors for assessing polarized topics and potential protests, noting common miscalculations in hysteria over online environments.

Terrorism and Extremism, Threat Analysis and Prevention, Threat Detection and Analysis

April 3, 2023

Officials react to online chatter of Trump protest ahead of former president’s arraignment in NY

ISD's Katherine Keneally spoke to CNN about one of the narratives dissuading pro-Trump supporters to react following his arraignment.

Far-Right Extremism, Terrorism and Extremism, Threat Analysis and Prevention

April 2, 2023

A new take at an old conspiracy: “In this iteration, ‘they’ are going to make you eat bugs”

ISD's Ciarán O'Connor shares insights with NPR on the spread of conspiracies about eating bugs that has become prevalent on social media.

Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference, Hybrid Extremism and Nihilistic Violence, Information Warfare and Online Manipulation, Threat Analysis and Prevention

April 1, 2023

Pro-Trump communities react “unenthusiastically” at news of Trump indictment

ISD's Jared Holt features in NPR and NBC News commenting on how the indictment news has been received, among pro-Trump communities.

Far-Right Extremism, Terrorism and Extremism, Threat Analysis and Prevention

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