“The really valuable thing in the pageant of human life,” Albert Einstein once wrote, “seems to me not the political state, but the creative, sentient individual, the personality; it alone creates the noble and the sublime, while the herd as such remains dull in thought and dull in feeling.”1 Individualism has certainly been lauded by philosophers, politicians, writers, and others throughout history. Among the characteristics valued in the individual are uniqueness, free will, spirit, and, as Einstein noted, creativity.

The lone wolf, however, has taken the positive aspects of individuality and turned them into a frightening form of violence. The lone wolf is usually not “dull in thought” but rather strives to think up new ways to commit terrorist attacks. Free from “the herd” or any type of group or peer pressure, lone wolves march to their own beat. This has allowed them to commit some of the most creative and horrific terrorist attacks in history.

Many people assume that the lone wolf terrorist is a wildcard, unpredictable, and usually mentally ill, and because of that, there is little that anybody can do to prevent an attack. I believe I've demonstrated in this book why that perception is wrong. The lone wolves demand our attention not just because of what these types of terrorists are capable of doing, but also because of what they tell us about the world we're living in.

Lone wolf terrorism is about individuals blowing up airplanes, sending package bombs and anthrax spores through the mail, setting off car and truck bombs in front of government buildings, and massacring scores of youths at a summer camp. It is also, though, about people who seek a purpose in their lives, with some of them finding it by embracing a cause and then embarking upon a terrorist attack. Like every other terrorist who joins a group, the lone wolf, too, seeks camaraderie with others, but instead of through face-to-face contact, he or she finds it on the Internet, whether that be from online chat rooms, reading extremists’ blogs and websites, or living vicariously from learning about the terrorist exploits of others, until he or she perpetrates an attack.

The lone wolf, in many respects, is no different from anyone who takes advantage of the revolutionary technological age we're living in, but at the same time, without even knowing it, we are all being taken advantage of by that very technology. The lone wolf surfs the web, just like many of us, to learn about things, but often receives an “exponentially increasing amount of unvetted and unverified information”2 that can be biased, manipulative, and many times just plain wrong. The Internet, with its vast reach and many different components, including websites, blogs, and social networks, can influence all types of people, ranging from peaceful citizens to lone wolf terrorists. The Internet can also be used to learn the identities of lone wolves through their online postings, searches, and chat-room activities, just like it can be used by commercial enterprises to learn about our online activities so as to exploit them for profit.

Lone wolves also tell us a lot about terrorism. They symbolize the diversity of this endless phenomenon, with terrorists coming from different backgrounds and possessing a wide range of motivations. Just as there is no prototypical terrorist who is a member or leader of an extremist group, so, too, is there no prototypical lone wolf. The lone wolf could be a male or a female, a highly educated or an illiterate individual, or a person driven by various political, religious, or financial motives. Lone wolves also serve as a reminder of why terrorism can never be “defeated,” since there will always be one person, somewhere, with a cause and a weapon to commit a terrorist attack.

When Timothy McVeigh acknowledged blowing up the federal building in Oklahoma City and stated, “Isn't it scary that one man could reap this kind of hell?” he got at the heart of the lone wolf terrorist threat. It seems mind-boggling that in a world where some terrorist groups have global networks of highly trained militants, a lone individual is capable of matching, and sometimes exceeding, the carnage, destruction, and grief that larger and better-financed extremist groups can inflict upon society. It is a somewhat discomforting thought that after all the resources, time, and personnel are expended in the fight against terrorism—usually terrorist groups, their affiliates, or their state sponsors—along can come a Timothy McVeigh or an Anders Breivik to reap their own “kind of hell” upon all of us.

Those who have been the target of lone wolves do not easily forget their traumatic experiences. Charles Epstein, who lost several fingers and suffered permanent hearing loss when he opened a package bomb that had been sent by Theodore Kaczynski, the Unabomber, put it best when he said that “there's never closure” to the emotional wounds. He could have been speaking for virtually anybody who has survived a terrorist attack or lost a loved one or friend to terrorism.

Although we cannot obviously prevent every lone wolf terrorist incident from occurring, we can employ a creative mix of strategies that may help reduce the threat. State-of-the-art technology in the form of detection systems, biometrics, and Internet monitoring tools will play a key role in accomplishing this, as will good old-fashioned police and intelligence work, including an alert public that reports suspicious packages and individuals to the authorities. But living with terrorism and its aftereffects will continue to be an unfortunate fact of life in the twenty-first century, just as it has been for previous generations.

Lone wolf terrorists are fascinating and frightening creatures—fascinating because they can be incredibly creative and innovative in their thinking and actions, frightening because they often exhibit no fear and have few, if any, constraints on the level of violence they're willing to inflict on their targets. “I am not a killer at heart,” Bruce Ivins, the lone wolf terrorist whom the FBI determined to be responsible for sending the anthrax letters, told a former coworker in June 2008, less than two months before he committed suicide while being investigated. “I, in my right mind, wouldn't do it.”3 In the end, though, it really doesn't matter whether the lone wolf is in his or her “right mind.” While some lone wolves are mentally ill, others are quite rational. Regardless of their mental state, based on their past actions and future potential, lone wolves have clearly demonstrated that they are important players in the world of terrorism and that they will have to be reckoned with both now and for the foreseeable future.