Self-Sponsored Terror: Were the Charlie Hebdo Killers in a ‘Wolf Pack’?

The attack on Paris newspaper Charlie Hebdo may have offered the world a glimpse of a scary new frontier in terrorism. It’s called “wolf pack” terrorism, in which a small group of people, often connected by family ties, stage an attack in their home country without getting direct orders or training from a larger organization.

“Wolf packs function without communication and in groups of often less than five, meaning they operate under the radar that counterterrorist agencies have set up,” the Soufan Group, a New York City-based security consultancy, wrote in a report last month. “They don’t travel to war zones for training or guidance but rather remain off the radar by staying local and conducting low-tech but terrorizing attacks.”