Greg Hinds

At a Counter-Terrorism Week event June 23 at the United Nations, six new publications were launched through the CT TECH initiative to assist partners in countering the use of new technologies for terrorist purposes. “The combined efforts of global law enforcement along with our partners is crucial to combat the threats faced by new and emerging technologies,” INTERPOL Counterterrorism Director Greg Hinds said. “Project CT-TECH plays a key role in supporting law enforcement in these efforts and in making it a safer world.” The landscape has evolved with terror groups and movements taking advantage of tech such as social media and the dark web to recruit, inspire, acquire weapons, fundraise, and more. As INTERPOL’s CT leader, Hinds, from Australia, plays an integral role in bringing partners together to best address myriad threats to critical infrastructure and soft targets alike. INTERPOL’s capacity-building mission has also included advancing chemical security amid emerging threats with a focus on acquisition, transportation, physical security and cybersecurity of chemical materials that could be used in destructive devices. Hinds has also worked to combat prison radicalization, calling it “a global threat that requires an intense level of global police cooperation in order to thwart future attacks and keep the public safe.” Hinds is committed to helping countries in regions with specific security threats assess and combat cross-border movements of terrorists, weapons, and IED components; for example, Project Watchmaker has been able to identify at border crossings individuals linked to a particular device that was used in a conflict zone or a terrorist attack. INTERPOL released a global CT strategy at the end of 2022 that focuses on improving international police cooperation, information sharing, and equipping member nations to respond to dynamic counterterrorism challenges with agility. “Trying to match foreign policy agendas with law enforcement priorities and actions, that’s one of my challenges and it’s one of the areas that I really look to focus on: being a bridge between the policy conversations and operational action,” Hinds told the NATO Deep Dive podcast in a July interview to mark INTERPOL’s 100th birthday.