ABSTRACT

The tragic events of September 11, 2001, have had far-reaching effects on many aspects of U.S. society. Six critical mission areas, as suggested in the “National Strategy for Homeland Security” report, have been identified where information technology can contribute to safeguarding our national security. These areas include intelligence and warning, border and transportation security, domestic counterterrorism, protecting critical infrastructure, defending against catastrophic terrorism, and emergency preparedness and responses. Intelligence and Security Informatics (ISI) encompasses the development of advanced and socially responsible information technologies, systems, algorithms, and databases for national security–related applications, through an integrated technological, organizational, policy-based, and privacy-preserving approach. This entry reviews ISI research challenges and presents a research framework with a primary focus on knowledge discovery from databases (KDD) technologies. The framework is discussed in the context of crime types and security implications. In addition to the technical discussions, caveats for data mining and civil liberties concerns are also considered.