Firm holds 1 million on anti-terror list

U.S. security firm Regulatory DataCorp says it has more than 1 million people and groups on its anti-terror database that it wants to market to government and private-sector clients worldwide. The security industry has seen a dramatic surge in business since it expanded into data processing and intelligence gathering in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the United States. After a slackening of interest in 2010, business picked up as mounting Internet crime brought additional opportunities for security firms. Cybercrime now covers a wide spectrum of malicious and violent activity, from organized computer hacking for profit or politics, drug and gun crime to terrorism. Regulatory DataCorp, Inc., a global provider of decision-ready intelligence and risk and compliance protection services, said its anti-terrorism database contains more than 1 million records of individuals and groups. It didn't list the number of groups, nationalities or geographical spread. RDC says it collects public source records on terrorist and organized crime figures and groups with minute-to-minute screening of international law enforcement watch lists, foreign and English language media, specialty publications, as well as tens of thousands of hard-to-find sources around the world. It said the anti-terrorism data strategy is "overseen by a respected network of former officials from senior ranks" in the U.S and global law enforcement and intelligence community. The company said it provides government and private-sector clients with "user-friendly and decision-ready intelligence on individuals and groups linked to terrorism," continuously monitors its lists to alert customers of any changes. Analysts said the company appeared to be seeking to build upon the work of several government and non-government services in the United States and abroad. Sensitive data and information translated from regional languages into English is a major growth industry capitalizing on corporate and government concerns. However, data quality sold by security firms is about as good or current as it prepares clients before the next outrage, as witnessed after the attacks July 22 in Norway. Nearly all think tanks and security analysts paraded on international television were wrong when speculating about the source of the attack in the first few hours after it happened. RDC Chief Executive Officer Thomas Obermaier said, "We dig deep behind the headlines and turn over every rock to assemble the world's largest public source data set on terrorism to help our users comply with the U.S. government's mandate to disrupt the flow of funds directed to known terrorists around the world." The million-plus records RDC holds offer clients an unrivaled quantity and quality of rich biographic and geographic details concerning even the smallest elements of terrorist cells that operate as the building blocks of global terror organizations, Obermaier said. RDC's data collection strategy is built on the same foundation that allowed the company to create world's largest public source data set on other sanctioned activities, including narcotics trafficking and transnational organized crime, the company said. The company notes that its anti-terrorism database alone "nearly eclipses" the total holdings of other risk data providers, and will continue to grow at an accelerated rate. "It is testimony as much to our cutting-edge technology as it is to the collective insights, expertise and relentless passion of our team concerning national security issues," RDC said. RDC says it continuously updates its global public source archive of key U.S., U.N., European, Canadian and Australian terrorism watch lists. RDC is a Bain Capital and Goldman Sachs portfolio company and has headquarters in Wilmington, Del.