What is e-business ?

E-business is a term used to describe businesses run on the Internet, or utilizing Internet technologies to improve the productivity or profitability of a business. Generaly, the term may be used to describe any form of electronic business (that is to say, any business which utilizes a computer). This usage is somewhat archaic, however, and in most contexts e-business refers exclusively to Internet businesses.

By selling products and services online, an e-business is able to reach a much wider consumer base than any traditional store could ever hope for. This function of e-business is referred to as e-commerce, and the terms are occasionally used interchangeably.

An e-business may also use the Internet to acquire wholesale products or supplies for in-house production. This facet of e-business is sometimes referred to as e-procurement, and may offer businesses the opportunity to cut their costs. Even many e-businesses which operate without an electronic storefront now use e-procurement as a way to better track and manage their purchasing.

In addition to buying and selling products, e-business may also handle other traditional business aspects. The use of electronic chat as a form of technical and customer support is an excellent example of this. An e-business which uses chat to complete its traditional phone support finds a system which saves incredible amounts of time while providing opportunities unavailable through traditional support.

When organizations go online, they have to decide which e-business models best suit their goals. A business model is defined as the organization of product, service and information flows, and the source of revenues and benefits for suppliers and customers. The concept of e-business model is the same but used in the online presence. The following is a list of the currently most adopted e-business models such as:

E-shops
E-commerce
E-procurement
E-malls
E-auctions
Virtual Communities
Collaboration Platforms
Third-party Marketplaces
Value-chain Integrators
Value-chain Service Providers
Information Brokerage
Telecommunication
Customer relationship

In the past few years, virtually all businesses have become an e-business. This trend continues with new technologies, such as Internet enabled cell phones and PDAs, and the trend of e-business saturation will most likely continue for some time.

What is e-business ?

E-business is a term used to describe businesses run on the Internet, or utilizing Internet technologies to improve the productivity or profitability of a business. Generaly, the term may be used to describe any form of electronic business (that is to say, any business which utilizes a computer). This usage is somewhat archaic, however, and in most contexts e-business refers exclusively to Internet businesses.

By selling products and services online, an e-business is able to reach a much wider consumer base than any traditional store could ever hope for. This function of e-business is referred to as e-commerce, and the terms are occasionally used interchangeably.

An e-business may also use the Internet to acquire wholesale products or supplies for in-house production. This facet of e-business is sometimes referred to as e-procurement, and may offer businesses the opportunity to cut their costs. Even many e-businesses which operate without an electronic storefront now use e-procurement as a way to better track and manage their purchasing.

In addition to buying and selling products, e-business may also handle other traditional business aspects. The use of electronic chat as a form of technical and customer support is an excellent example of this. An e-business which uses chat to complete its traditional phone support finds a system which saves incredible amounts of time while providing opportunities unavailable through traditional support.

When organizations go online, they have to decide which e-business models best suit their goals. A business model is defined as the organization of product, service and information flows, and the source of revenues and benefits for suppliers and customers. The concept of e-business model is the same but used in the online presence. The following is a list of the currently most adopted e-business models such as:

E-shops
E-commerce
E-procurement
E-malls
E-auctions
Virtual Communities
Collaboration Platforms
Third-party Marketplaces
Value-chain Integrators
Value-chain Service Providers
Information Brokerage
Telecommunication
Customer relationship

In the past few years, virtually all businesses have become an e-business. This trend continues with new technologies, such as Internet enabled cell phones and PDAs, and the trend of e-business saturation will most likely continue for some time.

eCommerce and eBusiness have come a long way in a relatively short space of time. This evolution has created a set of online marketing channels that are fast, targeted, adaptable and easy to use. The widespread popularity of the internet means that online marketing (eMarketing) strategies are no longer just “nice to have”, but are not negotiable for any business wanting to really interact with their customers.

The nature of the game has changed. Traditional “push” and “interrupt” marketing is no longer as effective as it once was. Customers want to have conversations with businesses. They want bespoke products and services and transparency and referrals from peers.

All of these things are available online, and any business worth their salt knows that an online marketing strategy does not end with simply having a website. Every business should have an online marketing strategy to maximise exposure and to leverage relationships with their customers.

eMarketing expert Vinny Lingham knows this better than anyone. In an eArticle entitled “eMarketing Channels”, Vinny, a world-renowned online marketing expert and entrepreneur, explores some of the facets of a holistic internet marketing strategy.

Vinny is the CEO of several highly successful online ventures, and arguably ranks amongst the trailblazers in the online marketing race.

When it comes to marketing your business online, Vinny Lingham reckons that it all begins with a marketable website. This forms the core of a solid online marketing strategy. In order for a website to be marketable, special attention needs to be paid to the following areas: design, usability and functionality.

Design clearly has to do with the websites look and feel, and how it reflects your brand. Sites should look professional and have a design and navigation that allows users to find what they are looking for with minimal effort.

Usability essentially refers to how user-friendly a website is. The site should follow conventional norms that are congruent with user behaviour. Useful features are also considered part of usability – items such as search bars, subscription forms and clear site architecture.

Finally, functionality has to do with the performance of the website. Does the site do what it is supposed to do quickly and reliably? For example, does the site work in different types of browsers (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari etc)? Is the “Enquire”, “Buy”, or “Shopping Cart” button prominent and easy to find? These are all questions of functionality.

Vinny Lingham is also quick to point out that a website can not just be launched and forgotten. A site that is going to perform consistently well needs to be updated and improved constantly, with regular updates of quality and original content.

Having a marketable website is just the starting point to achieving eMarketing success. There are numerous channels that should be used in a complementary way to form a complete marketing strategy that meets an organisation’s online objectives.

eMarketing channels that can be used to market a website include search engine marketing – which includes the disciplines of search engine optimisation (SEO) and pay per click (PPC); affiliate marketing, email marketing and social media marketing.

If each of these channels are used in the right combination, and to their utmost potential, then a powerful internet marketing strategy is in place. The internet is a powerful entity with enormous potential to reach and communicate with customers. This not only builds powerful brands, but is also a way to boost sales in a targeted and measureable way. By ensuring that your campaigns are relevant, targeted and engaging and by consistently measuring performance you are guaranteed success.

This year, according to eMarketer, one billion people worldwide will have Internet access and nearly 250 million households will have broadband. Although, Asia accounts for 56 percent of world population, but only 10 percent has access to the Internet at present. With the rapid economic development of Asian countries this figure will increase dramatically in the coming years. This ubiquitous presence of the Internet is forcing companies to embrace the Internet as a marketing and sales channel aggressively. Many companies have adopted Internet based technologies to streamline their crucial business processes and benefiting enormously from it.

Import Export companies are no difference! Most export import companies are using the Internet to augment customer base, tap into new markets, research competitors, find new products and evaluate country opportunities. However, many of these same companies are still slow in implementing eBusiness features in their daily business activities and, as a result, fail to garner true value from the use of the Internet. Trading companies – those which are still not doing online business transactions – should follow the examples of their retail counterparts and adopt eCommerce strategies.

According to a recent study conducted by Forrester Research, retail sales are expected to rise 20 percent to US$ 211.4 billion – a two fold increase from only three years ago. Whether you are in exporting or importing business it does not make any difference, by using eCommerce and adding some of the basic eBusiness functions to your website you can also profit from this trend.

Electronic commerce is the process of selling products through the Internet. There are two distinct segments of eCommerce – Business to Business and Business to Consumers. Retailers are mostly involved in B2C and import export traders are often more in the B2B sector. That’s why you need to realize that the components of eCommerce you may need in your website will be based on your business specifics. In general, all eCommerce sites are a combination of some of the following business functionalities:

• An eCatalog so that buyers can browse through the products you have to offer

• Product specification that gives detailed technical and delivery information

• A feature that allows sending request for quote online (RFQ)

• A product order placing system – normally a shopping cart

• Ability to view order status

• Sending a notification if a new product added to the catalogue which was requested by a prospective buyer

• At least one payment method. For small orders you should have a merchant account.

• Purchase order sending ability. Buyers should be able to send PO for the products readily available or the contracts already negotiated with you.

• Billing system should generate invoices automatically

Once you implemented these features there is virtually no geographic restriction on where you can sell your products. If you are an export company you may consider translating your eCommerce site to the language of your targeted market. This gives you an extra ability to leverage your sales endeavour.

Benefits of eCommerce

Increase revenue: By implementing eCommerce you are opening a new sales channel. Study shows, a well prepared eCommerce strategy can increase sales from mere 10 percent to several times within the first six month of implementation. There is a possibility that order size per customer will also increase thanks to some eCommerce functionalities like advanced eCatalog, Notification service, order status viewing system and ability to offer related products.

Expand client base: Depending on the exposure of your site, you can acquire customers from every corner of the world. You are no longer confined to any geographic area.

Reach niche market segments: You can market your eCommerce site by pin pointing a specific market segment with the help of the Internet.

Lower operating costs: Your eCommerce site will eliminate or reduce workloads of sales and support force. Marketing on the Internet is significantly cheaper than in offline world. You will also benefit from lower telecommunication costs, losses incurred from document errors, inventory and sales management costs. This will have direct impact on your company bottom line.

Better customer service: The ability to provide decisive information, real time interaction with customers and customer relationship management functionalities allow you to serve your customers better and help increase customer retention.

Enhance your company image: A well-managed, robust and user-friendly eCommerce site enhances positive image of a company.

Are you ready for eCommerce?

Before you implement an eCommerce plan, you need to figure out as an exporter or importer how viable it is for you right now? Are you going to receive the benefits mentioned above? Will the customers from different geographical location benefit from your new service channel? How critical is a well-described product specification for your customers?

Any company no matter how small or big it is from an eCommerce site no doubt it will benefit immensely from an eCommerce site. But the question is, are you ready to commit enough time and money to make your new venture successful?

Developing your eCommerce site

Depending on the type of eCommerce site you are planning to build it might take somewhere from three months to over a year.

There are several ways of starting an eCommerce site.

Building in house: You should consider developing your eCommerce site in house only if you have significant experience in this field. In order to build a successful eCommerce site you will need a team of experts in programming, designing, copy writing, and, most importantly, a project manager with the knowledge of your business model, enough technical proficiency and experience so that the system gets developed on time with expected business functionalities.

Outsourcing: There is no doubt that outsourcing is more cost effective and less time consuming for most of the companies. The only thing is you have to choose the organization which will build your site carefully and professionally.

Using web stores: If you are constrained by time or would like to take advantage of eCommerce immediately you can also get eCommerce site from online service providers. These web stores have all the needed functionalities for a true eCommerce site. Some of them are also capable of providing supply chain management and other key business automation abilities. Check out sites like Rusbiz.com.

While implementing eCommerce strategy you need to remember that eCommerce just enhances and complements your present business model but the fundamentals of your business remain the same. However, eCommerce with it’s innate flexible nature may open new business horizons for you with all the risk and reward implications.

What would you do if you had to start your internet business from mark with out funds in the least?’ This is the subject that sometimes pops up around the message boards using affiliate internet marketing websites. It usually arrives with newbies trying to figure out what works best and fast. And the equal solution comes up coming from felt broad professionals: Design money making site empires!

What are the reasons is site empires an ideal choice for brewing profit?

people. Blogs will be quick to install and supervise:
Retaining a blog will not involve selection and webdesign skills. You just register an account with a blogging service like WordPress com.com, and you could also start right away posting mail.

a couple. There are no start-up fees:
Blogging offerings such as WordPress com are really absolutely free. You do not ought to spend money on website hosting and divisions. Should you perform 30-50 niche sites and cover an online site specific name for every single, it’s a huge sum of money. If you run 30-50 or hundreds of blogs, when using free bloggging services, it won’t cost you a dime.

simple 4. Blogs will be designed by way of se s of days:
Among the leading problems that web site proprietors need to defeat is getting to the search engines. With Google it can be an annoyingly long process (think of the Ask sandbox outcome). Meanwhile, blogs may be scheduled much faster, commonly for about days, attributable to RSS refreshes.

five. Blogs absolutely are a more beneficial technique to imporove associate programs:
My surfaces out of your quality about blogs. Blogs undoubtedly are a series of inherent opinion written by everyday people. It really is a great well-known fact, that this understand how to trade associate programs would be to write a candid, constructive evaluate. Felt online teachers employ this method a good way to rank with hundreds and hundreds of dollars month-to-month. Word using jaws promoting is till probably the most helpful tricks to affect people to procure another thing. A rightly made piece can perform the for you personally.

4. Blogs may be simply monetized by utilizing Adsense:
Contextual pushing is a well-liked means as site owners to earn dollars lacking struggle. With blogs it is the same. Just put a piece of code into your page’s source and their the webcam has your happiness. In that case watch for your visitors with bond the advertisements. Even if you do not realize big part HTML codes, you are able to get pleasure from displaying textual content advertisements. Squidoo offers you that will put Adsense classified ads on the blog’s outline, and you will try this within the WordPress com menu having a number of mouse clicks, consequently no need for you to bother by using HTML codes. Your happiness even offers want you to definitely harmonize with made from over commercials while using colorings of this blog’s arrange. It really is rang pairing it betters click through charge enormously.

Secret methods of creating money making blog empires fast

Method 1:
The first procedure is usually to produce blogs that concentrate on specific issues. Inside your post first of all portray the matter, and then give a answer. This particular answer will be a joint venture partner services or products, that you just enhance. The general public use a interweb find most clearly information on right a haul. Including, healing procedures on acne pimples dilemmas, possibilities as dollars matters, when to rent a motorcar on holidays, reliable softwares from viruses and spams, et cetera. This really is where one can wirte about how precisely precisely you had precisely the same trouble and how the way the or perhaps that pill solved having a positive thinking.

Should you start four blogs every day, you ll get 150 blogs in the end on the to start off 30 days. Envision how much money you may secure from this site area. And the can be really the initial 4 weeks. This method being common and visible however several affiliate bloggers take action incorrect. There s a brand new method found out by Rob Benwell to do this successfully. You can read more about it at my web publication: http://blogging-to-the-bank.blogspot.com

Procedure a couple:
This can be a fewer frequently employed technique. Utilize your blogs because on line programs or even on line tutorials. Choose a area and initiate a series about writes love it’s a series about instructions. Your fist post should be lesson 1, the second post should be lesson a few, and the like. Lay affiliate links inside our content pieces. You can also use such mentioned blogs on building Adsense wages. Keep the variety of training among 10-20. In case you do not such as copy as well as will not learn the topic well enough, visit free of charge article submission sites. Opt for 10-20 items of your respective focus place and change them within chain. Your many.

Start running a blog nowadays in addition to every thirty days you may get a blog realm attaining you an excellent amount of cash. To learn more find out our site right here.

ANOTHER way of doing customer service is through the use of live chat support which is now gaining positive response aside from the famous inbound and outbound customer service management. This is a simple way of assisting clients worldwide because it requires the agents to be proficient in grammar, can type at least an average of 25 words per minute and most importantly, can respond quickly to the concerns of the customers.

Unlike with voice support, a customer service representative often encountered irate clients and sometime being discriminated on their race identification, among others. But regardless on how they help their customers, Filipinos customer service was proven and tested in telephoning communication. Clients from the United States easily pissed them if they failed to receive enough services they wanted. If this will continue, no wonder that the next move would end up in cancellation the program they purchased.

The introduction of chat support is a great wonder to the outsourcing because it gives the opportunity for the customers to deal one-on-one coaching with the agent using this technology. In many contact centers today in the Philippines, live chat support are now offered because call center locators believe that customers are their lifeblood and no matter what happen addressing the customers’ problem should be listed a top priority.

Meanwhile, Melanie Mae P. Lagasca, a chat operator for Unique Interaction, disclosed that she is now accustomed using the live chat support services. Previously, Ms. Lagasca came from the inbound account but was transferred to chat account, as part of the company’s way of giving quality help to the customers.

“I encountered angry customers on live chat support but the thing is, I can fully address their concerns after looking on the customers’ account. Chat support service is broad and in general this is fun,” said the 24-year-old lass from Bulacan province.

Speaking in Filipino and English, she said: “Chat support improves my skills in typing and I become more conscious of my grammar and I also learned how to handle the HTML code. I learned new things everyday and I treasure this opportunity to work in call center which greatly help me in supporting my family.”

Agents assigned for a chat support were trained the workings of this services. First, they were brief about the background of the program. Once they know everything, then they started to explore some basic jargons related on this account. Since the account is complicated to learn at the beginning but later on the knowledge will continue to spark the chat operators.

If the customers were satisfied with the service offered by a chat agent, usually they give good remarks to the agent’s performance. This is true, because the agents were also evaluate how they deal with the customers. If their remarks “NI” (needs improvement) this is something to give continuous coaching and reorientation to the agents to avoid getting this remark again and again. Everything can be sorted out properly through proper forum.

Today, ecommerce sites improve their sales because of the live chat software as a standard way of customer service. Call center executives interpret that this technology is a powerful customer interaction and support solution that offers substantial advantages to clients. Because online shoppers or Internet users rapidly increasing, chat tool gives positive outcome by helping the customers decide which is the best pick to choose. This tool can help strengthen up selling and generate loyalty by enabling live, person-to-person communication.

A survey conducted by eMarketer in 2000 showed that retail revenues from online shopping worldwide will increase to 35.3 billion by 2002. However, according to Yankelovich Partners, there is a problem: Nearly two-thirds of Web users are unwilling to purchase products without human interaction.

Another research from Andersen consulting, revealed that 63% of consumers surveyed did not compete an online transaction because they could not find necessary informal. With less than adequate information, they frequently don’t buy at all or end up buying the wrong product and ultimately, return it.

Ecommerce companies especially outsourcing, lead the customers in a way that they will learn and earn the benefits from the products they bought. This is not only for the purpose of doing sales but giving accurate information not to mislead the customers are the responsible of the provider.

HOW TO USE CHAT SUPPORT

Most of the ebusiness companies now have window section for live chat support. They provide few snippets information, along with a button, to their pages in which the customer may have the chance to browse it. If the customer will click on a button then it will alert the live chat server, hosted by the service that a visitor is popping up and wants to talk to the available chat support agent. In this highly regulated outsourcing industry, everything is compact and the information is stored ready to give a quick response to the visitors. And at the end, this visitor will enable to learn about the services and possibly turned out to be an up sell.

No wonder that in the next following years, live chat support services will give the outsourcing a remarkable journey in the online marketing scheme.*

One of the great things that eMarketing has done is level the playing fields. The barriers to entry for online marketing are far lower than more traditional marketing channels. eBusiness channels mean that small start-ups with scant resources can put their products and services in front of the same audiences as Fortune 500 companies.

Many people perceive eMarketing to be a complex and difficult discipline, but in reality getting started is relatively easy. Regardless of the size of your business, you can start simply and grow as you learn more and your requirements develop.

Online marketing is more dynamic, interconnected, potentially immediate and lower risk than traditional marketing. You can measure activity and performance far more accurately and easily when you market online. Internet marketing is also far more human – this channel allows people to interact and comment. It is more communicative and a far cry from traditional ‘interrupt and repeat’ models.

Effective and Marketable Websites
There are many eMarketing channels within the online space. At the core of any successful internet marketing strategy is an effective and marketable website. Three elements that should work together to create a satisfying user experience as well as synergy with your business are the site’s design, usability and functionality.

Once the site is operational, it’s important to put tools into place that will collect and analyse your site’s data. This is the easiest way to gain empirical insights into your sites’ performance and the ways in which your customers are interacting with it. A classic mistake is leaving your website and expecting it to perform well over time. The key is to give it constant attention and improvement and to ensure that you update it regularly with quality content.

What eMarketing Channels are there?
There are a number of channels available for marketing online. These include search engine marketing, affiliate marketing, social media marketing and online media placement to name but a few. Which of these channels you chose to incorporate into your internet marketing strategy really depends on your audience and desired outcomes.

Search Engine Marketing

Search engine marketing comprises Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) and Pay Per Click (PPC). In both of these cases, users type keywords into the query bar of a search engine’s website (like Google.com) and the search engine returns results which show the web pages that it deems most relevant to that search.

In the PPC model, you bid on keywords and this bid in conjunction with the quality of your ad, determine its placement. The ad will only be shown for searches that match the keywords you’ve specified or, in the case of the content network, next to contextually relevant content.

SEO is a marathon, not a sprint. It can take time to achieve results and careful keyword planning and optimisation, content development, website structure, linking and analysis are all important elements in a robust SEO strategy. If this is carried out properly, a site can enjoy high rankings and longevity in the SERPs. PPC on the other hand is immediate, and can be targeted more specifically. Not only to specific keywords and sites but you can also determine which page on your site users will click through to. The difference here is that you pay for each ‘click’.

Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing is another way to market online. It’s the online equivalent of having a sales agent or distribution partner. Affiliate marketing has massive potential as people with websites, email lists, and traffic promote your product or service. Normally, you pay a set cost per acquisition or a pre-determined percentage of the sale to the affiliate partner who referred the customer as a commission. Because this commission is results based, there is very little risk or cost involved for the advertiser.

It’s quite easy to get going with affiliate marketing, especially through the more established networks like LinkShare.com and Commission Junction (cj.com). These companies can help smaller businesses drive sales by recruiting and managing affiliates.

Email Marketing
When managed in the appropriate manner, email marketing is cheap, has great customer relationship management (CRM) potential and can be amazingly profitable. Good email marketing will build a strong personal relationship with the recipient and allow you to learn more about your customer’s likes and dislikes.

The most acceptable way to do email marketing in through permission-based emails. Here you would use a list of subscribers who have opted into receiving information via email from you. In terms of CRM, and achieving top results from your email marketing campaign, segmentation is key. Segmentation will allow you to cross-sell and up-sell appropriately, as well as target your emails appropriately so that you achieve maximum open and click-through rates.

Social Media Marketing
Web 2.0 is more collective and collaborative than what the internet was previously. Web 2.0 is characterised by user generated content (UGC), a large ‘social’ element, sharing and open source. This means that everybody can contribute, share and communicate more seamlessly and effectively.

Social media falls into the category of Web 2.0. Social media includes social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace, Bebo, LinkedIn and so forth, but also includes sharing sites such as YouTube and Flickr, blogs, wikis, podcasting and micro-blogging services such as Twitter. Any site that has an element of community, UGC and sharing could be considered as social media.

To leverage these communities as part of your internet marketing strategy is very powerful. Peer-referrals are far more highly valued than anonymous messages, and there is potential to have your brand and marketing message spread virally through pre-existing social networks.

You need to keep up to date with new developments and social media trends and sites to succeed in social media marketing. Also remember that social media is about conversations, not one way messages. This means that these interactions need to be managed, monitored and engaged with regularly. Simply throwing up a Facebook page is not a social media strategy – it is only a start.

eMarketing channels are most effective when they are implemented together as complementary strategies. eMarketing isn’t all that different from traditional marketing in that it’s still about getting your message out to the world. The main difference is that online you have to innovate more rapidly as everything changes so quickly.

Incident

Getting on Flight 253

On Christmas Eve, December 24, 2009, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, a 23-year-old Nigerian, arrived at Murtala Muhammed Airport in Lagos, Nigeria. Eight days earlier at the KLM Royal Dutch Airlines office in Accra, Ghana, he had paid $2,831 in cash for his Lagos-Amsterdam-Detroit round-trip ticket with a January 8, 2010, return date. Abdulmutallab left Lagos on Christmas Eve at 11:00 p.m. aboard KLM Flight 588, a Boeing 777 bound for Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam. In Amsterdam, on Christmas Day, Abdulmutallab checked in for Northwest Airlines Flight 253 to Detroit with only carry-on luggage.

A couple, Kurt and Lori Haskell, stated that, while waiting at the Amsterdam airport to board Flight 253, they saw the man whom they later learned was Abdulmutallab along with a well-dressed man who was assisting him approach the ticket agent. The other man appeared to be around 50 years old, of Indian descent and was dressed in what appeared to be an expensive suit and shoes. Federal agents later stated that they were trying to find the well-dressed man. According to Lori Haskell, the well-dressed man told the ticket agent: “We need to get this man on the plane. He doesn’t have a passport.” The ticket agent answered that nobody was allowed to board without a passport, to which the well-dressed man replied: “We do this all the time; he’s from Sudan.” Lori Haskell added that both she and her husband believe the man was trying to pass Abdulmutallab off as a Sudanese refugee. Lori Haskell then reported the two being directed down a corridor to talk to a manager. “We never saw him again until he tried to blow up our plane,” Haskell said of Abdulmutallab. Only U.S. citizens are permitted to board international flights to the U.S. without passports and even they may be permitted to do so only if the airline confirms their identity and citizenship, said Chief Ron Smith, spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Patrol in Detroit, and the allegation that Abdulmutallab was allowed to board without a passport has been called disturbing.

Bombing attempt

Flight 253, a Northwest Airlines Airbus A330-300 twinjet with 279 passengers, 8 flight attendants, and 3 pilots aboard, left Amsterdam around 8:45 am local time. The plane was scheduled to arrive in Detroit at 11:40 a.m. EST, and was painted in Delta Air Lines’ livery, as Northwest was a subsidiary of Delta at the time.

Witnesses reported that as the plane approached Detroit, Abdulmutallab went into the plane’s lavatory for about 20 minutes. After returning to his seat at 19A (near the fuel tanks and wing, and against the skin of the plane), he complained that he had an upset stomach. He was then seen pulling a blanket over himself.

About 20 minutes before the plane landed, he secretly ignited a small explosive device consisting of a mix of plastic explosive powder and liquid acid. Abdulmutallab apparently had a packet of the plastic explosive sewn to his underwear, and injected liquid acid from a syringe into the packet to cause a chemical reaction. While there was an explosion and fire, the device failed to detonate properly. Passengers heard popping noises resembling firecrackers, smelled an odor, and saw the suspect’s trouser leg and the wall of the plane on fire.

“There was smoke and screaming and flames. It was scary.”

Although there were not any air marshals on the flight, several passengers and crew noticed the attack. A passenger seated on the far side of the same row, Jasper Schuringa from the Netherlands, saw Abdulmutallab sitting and shaking, and tackled and overpowered him. Schuringa saw the suspect’s trousers were open, and that he was holding a burning object between his legs. “I pulled the object from him and tried to extinguish the fire with my hands and threw it away,” said Schuringa, who suffered burns to his hands. Meanwhile, flight attendants extinguished the fire with a fire extinguisher and blankets, and a passenger removed the partially melted, smoking syringe from Abdulmutallab’s hand.

Detroit Metropolitan Airport is located in the city of Romulus, Michigan

Schuringa grabbed the suspect, and pulled him to the first class area at the front of the plane. A passenger reported that Abdulmutallab, though burned “quite severely” on his leg, seemed “very calm,” and like a “normal individual.” Schuringa stripped off the suspect’s clothes to check for other explosives or weapons, and he and a crew member handcuffed Abdulmutallab with plastic handcuffs. “He was staring into nothing,” Schuringa said, and shaking. Passengers applauded as Schuringa walked back to his seat.

The suspect was isolated from other passengers until after the plane landed. A flight attendant asked Abdulmutallab what he had in his pocket, and the suspect replied: “Explosive device.”

When the attack triggered a fire indicator light within the cockpit, the pilot requested rescue and law enforcement. The plane made an emergency landing at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport in the Downriver Detroit community of Romulus, Michigan, just before 1:00 p.m. local time. The airport is about 20 miles (32 km) southwest of Detroit and the adjacent international border.

Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport

The Toronto Star reported that the plane’s flight route would have had it over Canadian airspace when the attempted bombing occurred. Representatives of two pilot associations told the Star that Detroit Metro airport would have been the nearest suitable airport at which to attempt an emergency landing.

While the plane itself suffered relatively little damage, the suspect incurred first and second degree burns to his hands, and second degree burns to his right inner thigh and genitalia, and two other passengers were injured. When the plane landed, Abdulmutallab was handed over to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers, and taken into custody for questioning and treatment of his injuries in a secured room of the burn unit of the University of Michigan Medical Center in Ann Arbor. Schuringa was also taken to the hospital. One other passenger incurred minor injuries.

Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents arrived at the airport after the plane landed. The aircraft was moved to a remote area so authorities could re-screen the plane, the passengers, and the baggage on-board. A bomb-defusing robot was first used to board the plane, and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) interviewed all passengers. Another passenger from the flight was placed in handcuffs after a dog alerted officers to his carry-on luggage, searched, and released.

Analysis of explosives

The substance that the suspect tried to detonate was more than 80 grams (3 oz) of pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN), a crystalline powder that is often the active ingredient of plastic explosives, the high explosive triacetone triperoxide (TATP), and other ingredients. It is among the most powerful of explosives, in the same chemical family as nitroglycerin. The powder was analyzed by the FBI at Quantico, and an FBI affidavit filed in the Eastern District of Michigan reflected preliminary findings that the device contained PETN. The authorities also found the remains of the syringe. The suspect apparently carried the PETN onto the plane in a 6-inch (15 cm)-long soft plastic container, possibly a condom, attached to his underwear. However, much of the container was lost in the fire. ABC News cited a government test indicating that 50 grams (2 oz) of PETN can blow a hole in the side of an airliner, and posted photos of the remains of Abdulmutallab’s underwear and explosive packet. Further chemical analysis showed that TATP, another high explosive, was also present.

Al-Qaeda member Richard Reid (the “Shoe Bomber”) tried to detonate 50 grams of the same explosives in his shoes during an American Airlines flight on December 22, 2001. This attack was near the eighth anniversary of Reid’s attempt. In addition, in August 2009, an al-Qaeda bomber from Yemen with PETN hidden in his underwear (originally thought to have been hidden inside his anal cavity) blew himself up near the Saudi deputy Interior Minister in charge of counter-terrorism, Prince Muhammad bin Nayef.

Verbally disruptive passenger incident

On December 27, 2009, two days after the original incident, the crew of another Flight 253 requested emergency assistance with a Nigerian passenger who they said had become “verbally disruptive”. The crew questioned the passenger after other passengers expressed concern that he had been in the lavatory for over an hour. It was later determined that the man was a businessman who had fallen ill from food poisoning during the flight, and did not pose any security risk.

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab

Main article: Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the suspected bomber

The suspect in the attempted bombing was 23-year-old Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab. The youngest of 16 children, Abdulmutallab’s father is Alhaji Umaru Mutallab, one of the richest men in Africa, former Chairman of First Bank of Nigeria, and former Nigerian Federal Commissioner for Economic Development. Abdulmutallab’s mother was born in Yemen and is the second of his father’s two wives. Abdulmutallab was initially raised in Kaduna, in Nigeria’s Muslim-dominated north, a place he returned to on his vacations.

In high school at the British International School in Lom, Togo, Abdulmutallab was known as a devout Muslim who frequently discussed Islam with schoolmates. He visited the U.S. for the first time in 2004. For the 2004-05 academic year, Abdulmutallab studied at the San’a Institute for the Arabic Language in Sana’a, Yemen, and attended lectures at Iman University.

He began his studies at University College London in September 2005, where he studied Engineering and Business Finance, and earned a degree in mechanical engineering in June 2008. He was president of the school’s Islamic society in 2006 and 2007, during which time he participated in, along with political discussions, such activities as martial arts and paintballing; at least one of the Society’s paintballing trips involved a preacher who reportedly said: “Dying while fighting jihad is one of the surest ways to paradise.” During those years, he “crossed the radar screen” of MI5, the UK’s domestic counter-intelligence and security agency, for radical links and “multiple communications” with Islamic extremists; none of the information was passed to American officials, due to concerns about breaching his human rights and privacy. His last known address was a 4 million apartment on Mansfield Street, Central London, close to Oxford Street.

On June 12, 2008, Abdulmutallab applied for and received from the U.S. consulate in London a U.S. multiple-entry visa, valid to June 12, 2010, with which he visited Houston, Texas, from August 117, 2008. From January 2009 to July 2009, he attended a master’s of international business degree program at the University of Wollongong in Dubai.

In May 2009 Abdulmutallab tried to return to Britain, ostensibly for a six-month “life coaching” program at what the British authorities concluded was a fictitious school; accordingly, his visa application was denied by the United Kingdom Border Agency. His name was placed on a UK Home Office security watch list, which meant he was not permitted to enter the UK, though he could pass through the country in transit and was not permanently banned. However, the UK did not share the information with other countries.

In July 2009, Abdulmutallab’s father agreed to his request of returning to the San’a Institute for the Arabic Language in Yemen to study Arabic from August to September of that year, and Abdulmutallab arrived in the country in August. “He told me his greatest wish was for sharia and Islam to be the rule of law across the world,” said one of his classmates at the Institute. However, Abdulmutallab ;left the Institute after a month, but remained in Yemen. Earlier, his family had become concerned in August when he called them to say he had dropped the course, but was remaining there. By September, he routinely skipped his classes at the institute and attended lectures at Iman University, which is suspected to have links to terrorism.

The San’a Institute obtained an exit visa for him at his request, and arranged for a car that took him to the airport on September 21, 2009 (the day his student visa expired), but the school’s director said, “After that, we never saw him again, and apparently he did not leave Yemen”. In October, Abdulmutallab sent his father a text message saying that he was no longer interested pursuing an MBA in Dubai, and wanted instead to study sharia and Arabic in a seven-year course in Yemen. His father threatened to cut off his funding, whereupon Abdulmutallab said he was “already getting everything for free”. He text-messaged his father, saying “I’ve found a new religion, the real Islam”, and ultimately, “You should just forget about me, I’m never coming back”, “Please forgive me. I will no longer be in touch with you”, and “Forgive me for any wrongdoing, I am no longer your child”. The family was last in contact with Abdulmutallab in October 2009.

On November 11, 2009, British intelligence officials sent the U.S. a message indicating that a man named “Umar Farouk” had spoken to Anwar al-Awlaki, a Muslim spiritual leader supposedly tied to al-Qaeda, pledging to support jihad, but the notice did not mention Abdulmutallab’s last name. His father made a report to two CIA officers at the U.S. Embassy in Abuja, on November 19 regarding his son’s “extreme religious views”, and told the embassy that Abdulmutallab might be in Yemen. Acting on the report, Abdulmutallab’s name was added in November 2009 to the U.S.’s 550,000-name Terrorist Identities Datamart Environment, a database of the U.S. National Counterterrorism Center. It was not added, however, to the FBI’s 400,000-name Terrorist Screening Database, the terror watch list that feeds both the 14,000-name Secondary Screening Selectee list and the U.S.’s 4,000-name No Fly List. Abdulmutallab’s U.S. visa was not revoked as well.

Yemeni officials said that he left Yemen on December 7 (flying to Ethiopia, and then two days later to Ghana). Ghanaian officials said Abdulmutallab was there from December 9 until December 24, when he flew to Lagos.

Two days after the attack, Abdulmutallab was released from the hospital in which he had been treated for burns sustained during the attempted bombing. He was then taken to the Federal Correctional Institution, Milan, a federal prison in Milan, Michigan.

Ties to Anwar al-Awlaki

Main article: Anwar al-Awlaki

Anwar al-Awlaki, who reportedly had ties to Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab

A number of sources reported contacts between Abdulmutallab and Anwar al-Awlaki, a Muslim lecturer and spiritual leader who is accused of being a senior al-Qaeda talent recruiter and motivator. Al-Awlaki, previously an imam in the U.S. who more recently has lived in Yemen, also has links to three of the 9/11 hijackers, the 2005 London subway bombers, a 2006 Toronto terror cell, a 2007 plot to attack Fort Dix, and the 2009 suspected Fort Hood shooter, Nidal Malik Hasan.

With a blog and a Facebook page, he has been described as the “bin Laden of the internet.”

Despite being banned from entering England in 2006, al-Awlaki spoke on at least seven occasions at five different venues around Britain via video-link in 2007-09. He gave a number of video-link lectures at the East London Mosque during this period. In one instance, the mosque provoked the outrage of The Daily Telegraph by hosting a video-teleconference by al-Awlaki in 2008, and former Shadow Home Secretary Dominic Grieve expressed concern over al-Awlaki’s involvement. On New Year’s Day 2009 the mosque played a pre-recorded video lecture by al-Awlaki, with a poster depicting New York in flames. He also gave video-link talks in England to an Islamic student society at the University of Westminster in September 2008, an arts center in East London in April 2009 (after the Tower Hamlets council gave its approval), worshipers at the Al Huda Mosque in Bradford, and a dinner of the Cageprisoners organization in September 2008 at the Wandsworth Civic Centre in South London (at which he said “We should make jihad for our brothers and an angel will make the same jihad for you”). On August 23, 2009, al-Awlaki was banned by local authorities in Kensington and Chelsea, London, from speaking at Kensington Town Hall via videolink to a fundraiser dinner for Guantanamo detainees promoted by Cageprisoners. His videos, which discuss his Islamist theories, have also circulated in England.

Representative Pete Hoekstra, the senior Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, said on the day of the attack that Obama administration officials and officials with access to law enforcement information told him “there are reports [the suspect] had contact [with al-Awlaki]…. The question we’ll have to raise is was this imam in Yemen influential enough to get some people to attack the U.S. again.” He added: “The suspicion is … that [the suspect] had contact with al-Awlaki. The belief is this is a stronger connection with al-Awlaki” than Hasan had. Hoekstra later said credible sources told him Abdulmutallab “most likely” has ties with al-Awlaki.

The Sunday Times established that Abdulmutallab first met and attended lectures by al-Awlaki in 2005, when he was in Yemen to study Arabic. The two are also “thought to have met” in London, according to The Daily Mail. Fox News reported that evidence collected during searches of “flats or apartments of interest” connected to Abdulmutallab in London showed that he was a “big fan” of al-Awlaki, as web traffic showed he followed Awlaki’s blog and website. CBS News and The Daily Telegraph reported that Abdulmutallab attended a talk by al-Awlaki at the East London Mosque (which al-Awlaki may have participated in by video teleconference).

University of Oxford historian, and professor of international relations, Mark Almond wrote that the suspect was “on American security watch-lists because of his links with … Al-Awlaki”.

CBS News said that the two were communicating in the months before the bombing attempt, and sources say that at a minimum al-Awlaki was providing spiritual support. According to federal sources, over the year prior to the attack, Abdulmutallab intensified electronic communications with al-Awlaki. One government source described intercepted “voice-to-voice communication” between the two during the fall of 2009, saying that al-Awlaki “was in some way involved in facilitating [Abdulmutallab]‘s transportation or trip through Yemen. It could be training, a host of things.”

Abdulmutallab reportedly told the FBI that al-Awlaki was one of his trainers when he underwent al-Qaeda training in remote camps in Yemen, and there were “informed reports” that Abdulmutallab met al-Awlaki during his final weeks of training and indoctrination prior to the attack. According to a U.S. intelligence official, intercepts and other information point to connections between the two:

“Some of the information … comes from Abdulmutallab, who … said that he met with al-Awlaki and senior al-Qaeda members during an extended trip to Yemen this year, and that the cleric was involved in some elements of planning or preparing the attack and in providing religious justification for it. Other intelligence linking the two became apparent after the attempted bombing, including communications intercepted by the National Security Agency indicating that the cleric was meeting with “a Nigerian” in preparation for some kind of operation.”

Yemen’s Deputy Prime Minister for Defense and Security Affairs, Rashad Mohammed al-Alimi, said Yemeni investigators believe the suspect traveled in October to Shabwa, where he met with suspected al-Qaida members in a house built by al-Awlaki and used by al-Awlaki to hold theological sessions, and that Abdulmutallab was trained and equipped there with his explosives. “If he went to Shabwa, for sure he would have met Anwar al-Awlaki,” al-Alimi said. Al-Alimi also said he believed al-Awlaki is alive. And Abdul Elah al-Shaya, a Yemeni journalist, said a healthy al-Awlaki called him on December 28 and said that the Yemeni government’s claims as to his death were “lies”. Shaya declined to comment as to whether al-Awlaki had told him about any contacts he may have had with Abdulmutallab. According to Gregory Johnsen, a Yemeni expert at Princeton University, Shaya is generally reliable.

At the end of January 2010, a Yemeni journalist, Abdulelah Hider Shaa, said he met with al-Awlaki, who said he had met and spoken with Abdulmutallab in Yemen in the fall of 2009. Al-Awlaki also reportedly said Abdulmutallab was one of his students, that he supported what Abdulmutallab did but did not tell him to do it, and that he was proud of Abdulmutallab. A New York Times journalist listened to a digital recording of the meeting, and said that while the tape’s authenticity could not be independently verified, the voice resembled that on other recordings of al-Awlaki.

Al-Qaeda involvement

On December 28, 2009, Obama in his first address said the incident “demonstrates that an alert and courageous citizenry are far more effective than anti-terrorist laws which wreak havoc on our basic freedoms.” On the same day, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) announced that it was responsible for the attempted bombing. AQAP said that the attack, during “their (Christians) celebration of the Christmas holidays”, was to “avenge U.S. attacks on the militants in Yemen”. The NEFA Foundation posted the full al-Qaeda statement.

On January 24, an audio tape said to be from Osama Bin Laden praised the bombing attempt and warned of further attacks against America, but did not explicitly claim responsibility for it. The short recording that was broadcasted on Al Jazeera television, said: “The message delivered to you through the plane of the heroic warrior Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was a confirmation of the previous messages sent by the heroes of the September 11.” An adviser to the U.S. President said he could not confirm whether the voice was actually that of bin Laden. In the past, the CIA has usually confirmed Al Jazeera reports on tapes attributed to bin Laden.

While in custody, Abdulmutallab told authorities he had been directed by al-Qaeda. He said he had obtained the device in Yemen, along with instructions from al-Qaeda as to how to use it and to detonate it when the plane was over U.S. soil. Abdulmutallab said he had contacted al-Qaeda through a radical Yemeni imam (who according to The New York Times on December 26 was not believed to be al-Awlaki) whom he had reached through the internet.

The New York Times reported on December 25 that a counter-terrorism official had told them Abdulmutallab’s claim “may have been aspirational”. But U.S. Representative Jane Harman] (D-Calif.), Chairman of the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Intelligence, Information Sharing, and Terrorism Risk Assessment, said the following day that a federal official briefed lawmakers about “strong suggestions of a Yemen-al Qaeda connection” with the suspect. On January 2, 2010, President Obama said that AQAP trained, equipped, and dispatched Abdulmutallab, and vowed retribution.

In reaction to suggestions that the U.S. launch a military offensive against the alleged terrorists’ sanctuary in Yemen, The Washington Post noted that Yemeni forces equipped with U.S. weapons and intelligence had carried out two major raids against AQAP shortly before the bombing attempt, and that the terror group may have lost top leaders in a December 24, 2009, airstrike.

Jasper Schuringa

Jasper Schuringa, who was en route to Miami, Florida for a vacation, stopped the attack and got burn injuries in the process. He lives in Amsterdam, and was born in 1971 in Curaao, Netherlands Antilles. Schuringa is a graduate of Leiden University, Leiden. He is a film director of low-budget Dutch films for an Amsterdam-based media company, and was the assistant director for National Lampoon’s Teed Off Too.

Dutch Deputy Prime Minister Wouter Bos phoned Schuringa on behalf of the Dutch government the day after the attack, and conveyed the government’s compliments and gratitude for Schuringa’s part in overpowering the suspect. Dutch Member of Parliament Geert Wilders called Schuringa “a national hero” who “deserves a royal honor”, which Wilders said he would ask the Dutch government to award. According to the Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant, Queen Beatrix expressed her feelings of gratitude towards Schuringa. The Dutch poet Nico Dijkshoorn compared Schuringa to both Superman and Hans Brinker.

On February 10, 2010 Schuringa announced that Reinout Oerlemans Eyeworks will make a documentary about Schuringa act during the flight. Schuringa, who is a filmmaker himself, will be closely involved in the production.

Reactions and investigations

Governments

United States

Barack Obama discusses the incident with National Security Council chief of staff Denis McDonough at the Kailua Winter White House on December 29, 2009.

The U.S. investigation into the incident is being managed by the Detroit Joint Terrorism Task Force, which is led by the FBI and includes U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Federal Air Marshal Service, and other law enforcement agencies. Among other questions, they are attempting to answer the following: what training did Abdulmutallab receive, who else (if anyone) was in the training program, are others preparing to launch similar attacks, was the attack part of a larger (possibly worldwide) plot, was it a test run, who assisted him, who gave him the chemicals, who sewed the explosives in his underwear, who further radicalized him, who sent him on his way, and how was he able to smuggle the explosives past airport security.

President Barack Obama was notified of the incident by an aide while on a vacation in Kailua, Hawaii, and spoke with officials from the Department of Homeland Security. He instructed that all appropriate measures be taken in response to the incident. While the White House called the attack an act of terrorism, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder has not declared the incident an official terrorist act.

Representative Hoekstra said that Detroit may not have been singled out for the attack, but the focus may have simply been to attack a destination with many international travelers. The attack occurred over the city because the plane had not flown over U.S. land prior to that time. In addition, it was suggested that it is possible that the attack was a test to see if such materials could pass through screening, and how much damage the blast would cause. The U.S. is examining what information it had before the attack, why its National Counterterrorism Center did not put together the warning from Abdulmutallab’s father and intercepts by the National Security Agency (NSA) of conversations among Yemeni al-Qaida leaders about a “Nigerian” to be used for an attack (months before the attack took place), and why the suspect’s U.S. visa was not revoked after his father’s warning. Abdulmutallab’s name had come to the attention of intelligence officials many months before that, but no “derogatory information” was recorded about him. A Congressional official said that Abdulmutallab’s name appeared in U.S. reports reflecting that he had connections to both al-Qaeda and Yemen.

One U.S. intelligence officer said on December 30: “Abdulmutallab’s father didn’t say his son was a terrorist” when he visited the U.S. Embassy in Nigeria, “let alone planning an attack. Not at all. I’m not aware of some magic piece of intelligence that suddenly would have flagged this guyhose name nobody even had until Novembers a killer en route to America, let alone something that anybody withheld.” Representative Hoekstra questioned, however, why the apparent links were not put together before the attack took place, saying: “You would think if you did a Google search on these different threads, it would bring these things together quickly. There are organizations that deal with massive amounts of data in real time every day. Talk to MasterCard.”

On January 7, 2010, James L. Jones, the national security advisor, said Americans would feel “a certain shock” when a report detailing the intelligence failures that could have prevented the Christmas Day attack were released that day. He said that President Obama would be “legitimately and correctly alarmed that things that were available, bits of information that were available, patterns of behavior that were available, were not acted on.”

United Kingdom

Prime Minister Gordon Brown said that the UK would take “whatever action was necessary”. The day after the attack, British police searched a family-owned flat at which Abdulmutallab had lived while in London.

Netherlands

A Dutch military police spokesperson said that Abdulmutallab did not go through passport control at Schiphol, where large numbers of passengers are processed en-route to North America from Africa, and the Dutch counter-terrorism agency NCTb said that it had started a probe into where the suspect originated. A preliminary investigation, however, found no security lapses, and despite being listed as having a potential terrorism connection, the suspect had a valid U.S. visa. Dutch officials also said that they will now use 3D full-body scanning X-ray technology on flights departing to the U.S. Body scanners are being implemented despite concerns from privacy advocates. Dutch officials said that security must take priority over the privacy of the individuals being scanned. The developer of the technology said the scanned imagery does not compromise individuals’ privacy, as the imagery resolution is too low to display the body in anatomical detail; but that it would certainly detect non-metallic objects under clothing, such as powdered explosives.

Members of the Second Chamber (Lower House) of the Dutch parliament demanded an explanation from Minister of Justice Hirsch Ballin, asking how the suspect managed to smuggle explosives on board, despite Schiphol’s reportedly strict security measures.

Nigeria

The incident raised concern regarding security procedures at Nigeria’s major international airports in Lagos and Abuja, where tests for explosive materials are not conducted on carry-on baggage and shoes, and where bags are allowed to pass quickly through X-ray scanners. In response to strong international criticism, Nigerian civil aviation officer Harold Demuran announced that Nigeria will also set up full-body scanning X-ray machines in Nigerian airports.

Canada

In response to the incident and to comply with new US regulations, the Canadian Government will install full body scanners at major airports. This technology is used in secondary screening of passengers. The first 44 scanners were planned to be installed at airports in Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, and Halifax.

Delta Air Lines

Delta Air Lines, which owns Northwest, said its Detroit group did not handle security for the flight. It released a statement calling the incident a “disturbance,” and saying that Delta was “cooperating fully with authorities”.

According to an internal communication to employees, Delta’s CEO Richard Anderson was upset that another terrorist incident such as this could reoccur, especially after the September 11 security reinforcements put in place around the globe: “Having this occur again is disappointing to all of us… You can be certain we will make our points very clearly in Washington.”

Security firms

In January 2010, ICTS International, a security firm that provides security services to Schipol airport, and G4S (Group 4 Securicor Aviation Security B.V.), another security firm, traded blame over the security oversight, as did authorities at Schiphol Airport, the Federal Aviation Authority, and U.S. intelligence officials. According to Haaretz, the failure was two-fold: An intelligence failure, as Obama stated, in the poor handling of information that arrived at the State Department and probably also the CIA from both the father of the would-be bomber and the British security service; and a failure within the security system, including that of ICTS. Abdulmutallab’s “age, name, illogical travel route, high-priced ticket purchased at the last minute, his boarding without luggage (only a carry-on), and many other signs should have been sufficient to alert the security officers and warrant further examination of the suspect. However, the security supervisor allowed him to get on the flight.”

Criminal charges

Prison grounds at Federal Correctional Institution, Milan, where Abdulmutallab is incarcerated

On December 26, a criminal complaint was filed against Abdulmutallab in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, charging him with two counts: placing a destructive device in, and attempting to destroy, a U.S. civil aircraft. The U.S. Attorney’s Office assigned to the case federal prosecutors Jonathan Tukel (chief of the counter-terrorism unit) and Eric Straus (former chief of the same unit). Abdulmutallab was arraigned and officially charged by U.S. District Court Judge Paul D. Borman later the same day at the University of Michigan Hospital.

On January 6, 2010, a federal grand jury indicted Abdulmutallab on six criminal counts including attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction and attempted murder. “Not guilty” pleas were entered on the behalf of Abdulmutallab at the hearing. If Abdulmutallab is convicted on the charges he could face a life sentence plus 90 years. He faced his first court hearing, a detention hearing, on January 8, 2010. A former federal prosecutor told the Detroit News that “there’s no chance of getting this guy bond in a million years”.

Aftermath

Effect on travel

The U.S. government did not raise the Homeland Security Advisory System terrorist threat level, orange at the time (high risk of terrorist attacks), following the attack. However, the Department of Homeland Security said that additional security measures would be in place for the remainder of the Christmas travel period. The TSA detailed several of the measures, including a restriction on movement and access to personal items during the last hour of flight for planes entering U.S. airspace. The TSA also said that there would be more officers and security dogs at airports.

On December 28 Transport Canada announced that for several days it would not allow passengers flying to the U.S. from Canada a carry-on bag, with some exceptions. British Airways said that passengers flying to the U.S. would only be permitted one carry-on item. Other European countries increased baggage screening, pat-down searches, and random searches for passengers traveling to the U.S. A spokesperson for the Dutch airport used by the attacker said that heightened security would be in place for “an indefinite period”. However, in spite of the extra measures said to have been put in place to prevent a follow-up attack, Stuart Clarke, a photoreporter from the British newspaper Daily Express claimed to have smuggled a syringe containing fluid, and which could have contained a liquid bomb detonator onto another plane. On January 3, 2010, Clarke said he boarded a jet from Schiphol Airport bound for Heathrow Airport just five days after the Christmas Day terror attack, and that the airport appeared to have imposed no additional security, such as precautionary pat-downs which could easily have discovered the syringe which he claimed he kept in his jacket pocket throughout.

On December 27, a Lufthansa flight headed for Detroit was diverted to Iceland when it was discovered to be carrying a bag from a passenger who was not on the plane. In addition, a passenger on a Baltimore-to-New York flight was detained when a firecracker was discovered in the seat he had used.

U.S. political fallout

Beginning on the day of the incident, Obama was kept informed via secure conference calls and follow-up briefings.

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs and Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano said several times on Sunday talk shows that “the system had worked”, a statement that engendered some controversy. The next day they retracted the statement, saying that the system had in fact “failed miserably.” According to Napolitano, her initial statement had referred to the rapid response to the attack that included alerts sent to the 128 other aircraft in U.S. airspace at the time, and new security requirements for the final hour of every flight, rather than the security failures that allowed the attack to happen.

The day after the attack, the U.S. House Homeland Security Committee and Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee both announced that they would hold hearings in January 2010 to investigate how the device passed through security, and whether further restrictions should be placed on air travel; the Senate hearings began on January 21.

Four days after the attack, Obama said publicly that Abdulmutallab’s ability to board the aircraft was the result of a systemic failure that included an inadequate sharing of information among U.S. and foreign government agencies. He called the situation “totally unacceptable.” He ordered that a report be delivered detailing how some government agencies had failed to share or highlight potentially relevant information about the suspect before he allegedly tried to blow up the airliner. Two days later Obama received the briefing, which included statements that information about the suspect had failed to cross agency lines, and that the failures to communicate within the U.S. government had led to the threat posed by Abdulmutallab not being known by certain agencies until the attack. Obama said he would meet with security officials and specifically question why Abdulmutallab was not placed on the U.S. no-fly list, despite the government having received warnings about his potential al-Qaeda links.

Under new rules prompted by the incident, airline passengers travelling to the U.S. from 14 nations would undergo extra screening: Afghanistan, Algeria, Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen. The inclusion of non-Muslim Cuba on the list was criticized.

Account of pre-boarding event

Kurt Haskell, a U.S. passenger on Flight 253, said he saw two individuals approach the boarding agent at Schiphol, in Amsterdam. One was a “poor-looking black teenager around 16 or 17″ whom Haskell claims was Abdulmutallab. The second man was a “sharp-dressed” Indian man around 50 years old who spoke “in an American accent similar to my own.” According to Haskell, the Indian man attempted to negotiate with the airline employee to allow Abdulmutallab to board without a passport. Haskell claimed that the older man said: “He’s from Sudan. We do this all the time”, to which the employee responded by referring them to management.

A U.S. Customs and Border Patrol official and spokesman in Detroit confirmed that there were not any Sudanese refugees on the plane. The Dutch counter-terror agency said that Abdulmutallab presented a valid Nigerian passport and U.S. entry visa when he boarded Flight 253, and after reviewing more than 200 hours of security camera recordings, did not find any indication that Abdulmutallab had accomplices at the airport or that he acted suspiciously there. Haskell suggested authorities should, “Put the video out there to prove I’m wrong.”

Federal agents said they were attempting to identify a man who, according to passengers on the flight, helped Abdulmutallab change planes in Amsterdam. U.S. authorities had initially discounted the passenger accounts, but the agents later said there was a growing belief that this man played a role to make sure Abdulmutallab “did not get cold feet”.

See also

Detroit portal

Aviation portal

Yemeni al-Qaeda crackdown

2001 shoe bomb plot

2006 Transatlantic Aircraft Plot

List of accidents and incidents on commercial airliners

List of terrorist incidents, 2009

“Flying while Muslim”

References

^ a b c d e f “Indictment in U.S. v. Abdulmutallab”. CBS News. January 6, 2010. http://www.cbsnews.com/htdocs/pdf/Abdulmutallab_Indictment.pdf. Retrieved January 10, 2010. 

^ “Key dates surrounding the Christmas Day attack”. WTOP Radio. Associated Press. December 30, 2009. http://www.wtop.com/?nid=116&sid=1851004. Retrieved March 2, 2010. 

^ “US plane attacker “sneaked” into Nigeria”. Television New Zealand. Reuters. December 28, 2009. http://tvnz.co.nz/world-news/us-plane-attacker-sneaked-into-nigeria-3319224. Retrieved December 28, 2009. 

^ Mason, Jeff (December 31, 2009). “Obama summons intel chiefs for security talks”. Reuters. http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE5BU3NZ20100101. Retrieved January 2, 2010. 

^ a b c d e Shane, Scott; Lipton, Eric (December 26, 2009). “Passengers’ Quick Action Halted Attack”. The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/27/us/27plane.html. Retrieved December 26, 2009. 

^ a b Bohn, Kevin; Labott, Elise; Henry, Ed; Streitfeld, Rachel (December 25, 2009). “Explosive device set off aboard airliner”. CNN. http://www.cnn.com/2009/TRAVEL/12/25/airliner.firecrackers/index.html. Retrieved December 25, 2009. 

^ a b Egan, Paul. The Detroit News, 28 December, 2009, “Passenger Says Accused Terrorist Got Help Boarding”

^ ABC News, 22 Jan. 2010, Alert: Female Suicide Bombers May Be Heading Here From Yemen. Retrieved March 2, 2010.

^ McClatchy Newspapers, 29 Dec. 2010, Agents Question Whether Airliner-Bomb Suspect Had Help

^ Roberts, Soraya (December 26, 2009). “Jasper Schuringa subdued alleged terrorist Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab on Northwest Airlines 253″. New York Daily News. http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2009/12/26/2009-12-26_jasper_schuringa_helped_subdue_alleged_terrorist_umar_farouk_abdulmutallab_on_no.html?print=1&page=all. Retrieved January 2, 2010. 

^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p US District Court, Eastern District of Michigan (December 26, 2009). “US v. Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, Criminal Complaint” (PDF). The New York Times. http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/national/20091226ComplaintAffidavit.pdf. Retrieved December 26, 2009. 

^ a b Levine, Mike; Herridge, Catherine; Wolff, Sarah (December 26, 2009). “Congress to Probe Attempted Airline Attack, Consider Added Security Precautions”. FOX News Network. http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/12/26/lawmakers-attempted-airline-attack-disturbing-pledge-hold-hearings/. Retrieved December 26, 2009. 

^ “Northwest Airlines flight 253 Flight Tracking Data”. Flightwise.com. December 25, 2009. http://flightwise.com/track/38590003. Retrieved March 2, 2010. 

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^ Herridge, Catherine; Zibel, Eve; Levine, Mike (December 27, 2009). “Investigators Cross Globe Looking for Details on Plane Bombing Suspect”. Fox News. http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/12/27/investigators-cross-globe-looking-details-plane-bombing-suspect/. Retrieved December 27, 2009. 

^ a b NBC, msnbc.com and news services (December 26, 2009). “U.S. knew of suspect, but how much?”. msnbc.com. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34592031/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/. Retrieved December 26, 2009. 

^ O’Connor, Anahad; Schmitt, Eric (December 26, 2009). “U.S. Says Plane Passenger Tried to Detonate Device”. The New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E01E7D61731F935A15751C1A96F9C8B63. 

^ a b c Jakes, Lara; Berris, Randi; Adler, Shelley (December 25, 2009). “Terror suspected in plot to blow up Northwest jet”. Houston Chronicle. Associated Press. http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/nation/6787142.html. Retrieved December 26, 2009. 

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^ Stobart, Janet; and Semuels, Alama. “Nigerian man, 23, charged with attempting to destroy plane”, American Chronicle, December 28, 2009. Accessed December 28, 2009.

^ Temple-Raston, Dina (December 26, 2009). “Terrorism Links Uncertain In Airplane Attack”. NPR. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=121927036&ps=cprs. Retrieved December 26, 2009. 

^ a b c D. Shear, Michael; Johnson, Carrie; Hsu, Spencer S. (December 26, 2009). “Airports intensify security measures worldwide in wake of failed bomb attack aboard U.S.-bound jetliner”. The Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/25/AR2009122501355.html. Retrieved December 26, 2009. 

^ Barrett, Devlin (December 26, 2009). “Christmas Day terrorism suspect is charged”. KATU. The Associated Press. http://www.katu.com/news/national/80140857.html. Retrieved December 26, 2009. 

^ a b “Official: Explosive PETN Used in Attack”. CBS News. December 26, 2009. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/12/26/national/main6024409.shtml. Retrieved December 26, 2009. 

^ a b c Schmitt, Ben; Ashenfelter, David (January 7, 2010). “Abdulmutallab faces life in prison for Flight 253 plot”. Detroit Free Press. http://www.freep.com/article/20100107/NEWS06/1070452/Abdulmutallab-faces-life-in-prison-for-Flight-253-plot. 

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^ Kennedy, Dominic. “Passengers face security crackdown after failed airliner bomb plot”, The Times, December 28, 2009. Retrieved December 28, 2009.

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^ Tapper, Jake.”The August Attempt on Saudi Prince Mohammed – and the Link to Flight 253″ ABC News Blogs, January 3, 2010. Retrieved January 3, 2010.

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^ Wong, Kristina and Pierre Thomas. “Christmas Day Terror Suspect Moved to Prison; Air Security Measures Questioned.” ABC News. December 27, 2009. 1. Retrieved on February 12, 2010.

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eCommerce and eBusiness have come a long way in a relatively short space of time. This evolution has created a set of online marketing channels that are fast, targeted, adaptable and easy to use. The widespread popularity of the internet means that online marketing (eMarketing) strategies are no longer just “nice to have”, but are not negotiable for any business wanting to really interact with their customers.

The nature of the game has changed. Traditional “push” and “interrupt” marketing is no longer as effective as it once was. Customers want to have conversations with businesses. They want bespoke products and services and transparency and referrals from peers.

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eMarketing expert Vinny Lingham knows this better than anyone. In an eArticle entitled “eMarketing Channels”, Vinny, a world-renowned online marketing expert and entrepreneur, explores some of the facets of a holistic internet marketing strategy.

Vinny is the CEO of several highly successful online ventures, and arguably ranks amongst the trailblazers in the online marketing race.

When it comes to marketing your business online, Vinny Lingham reckons that it all begins with a marketable website. This forms the core of a solid online marketing strategy. In order for a website to be marketable, special attention needs to be paid to the following areas: design, usability and functionality.

Design clearly has to do with the websites look and feel, and how it reflects your brand. Sites should look professional and have a design and navigation that allows users to find what they are looking for with minimal effort.

Usability essentially refers to how user-friendly a website is. The site should follow conventional norms that are congruent with user behaviour. Useful features are also considered part of usability – items such as search bars, subscription forms and clear site architecture.

Finally, functionality has to do with the performance of the website. Does the site do what it is supposed to do quickly and reliably? For example, does the site work in different types of browsers (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari etc)? Is the “Enquire”, “Buy”, or “Shopping Cart” button prominent and easy to find? These are all questions of functionality.

Vinny Lingham is also quick to point out that a website can not just be launched and forgotten. A site that is going to perform consistently well needs to be updated and improved constantly, with regular updates of quality and original content.

Having a marketable website is just the starting point to achieving eMarketing success. There are numerous channels that should be used in a complementary way to form a complete marketing strategy that meets an organisation’s online objectives.

eMarketing channels that can be used to market a website include search engine marketing – which includes the disciplines of search engine optimisation (SEO) and pay per click (PPC); affiliate marketing, email marketing and social media marketing.

If each of these channels are used in the right combination, and to their utmost potential, then a powerful internet marketing strategy is in place. The internet is a powerful entity with enormous potential to reach and communicate with customers. This not only builds powerful brands, but is also a way to boost sales in a targeted and measureable way. By ensuring that your campaigns are relevant, targeted and engaging and by consistently measuring performance you are guaranteed success.

One of the great things that eMarketing has done is level the playing fields. The barriers to entry for online marketing are far lower than more traditional marketing channels. eBusiness channels mean that small start-ups with scant resources can put their products and services in front of the same audiences as Fortune 500 companies.

Many people perceive eMarketing to be a complex and difficult discipline, but in reality getting started is relatively easy. Regardless of the size of your business, you can start simply and grow as you learn more and your requirements develop.

Online marketing is more dynamic, interconnected, potentially immediate and lower risk than traditional marketing. You can measure activity and performance far more accurately and easily when you market online. Internet marketing is also far more human – this channel allows people to interact and comment. It is more communicative and a far cry from traditional ‘interrupt and repeat’ models.

Effective and Marketable Websites
There are many eMarketing channels within the online space. At the core of any successful internet marketing strategy is an effective and marketable website. Three elements that should work together to create a satisfying user experience as well as synergy with your business are the site’s design, usability and functionality.

Once the site is operational, it’s important to put tools into place that will collect and analyse your site’s data. This is the easiest way to gain empirical insights into your sites’ performance and the ways in which your customers are interacting with it. A classic mistake is leaving your website and expecting it to perform well over time. The key is to give it constant attention and improvement and to ensure that you update it regularly with quality content.

What eMarketing Channels are there?
There are a number of channels available for marketing online. These include search engine marketing, affiliate marketing, social media marketing and online media placement to name but a few. Which of these channels you chose to incorporate into your internet marketing strategy really depends on your audience and desired outcomes.

Search Engine Marketing

Search engine marketing comprises Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) and Pay Per Click (PPC). In both of these cases, users type keywords into the query bar of a search engine’s website (like Google.com) and the search engine returns results which show the web pages that it deems most relevant to that search.

In the PPC model, you bid on keywords and this bid in conjunction with the quality of your ad, determine its placement. The ad will only be shown for searches that match the keywords you’ve specified or, in the case of the content network, next to contextually relevant content.

SEO is a marathon, not a sprint. It can take time to achieve results and careful keyword planning and optimisation, content development, website structure, linking and analysis are all important elements in a robust SEO strategy. If this is carried out properly, a site can enjoy high rankings and longevity in the SERPs. PPC on the other hand is immediate, and can be targeted more specifically. Not only to specific keywords and sites but you can also determine which page on your site users will click through to. The difference here is that you pay for each ‘click’.

Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing is another way to market online. It’s the online equivalent of having a sales agent or distribution partner. Affiliate marketing has massive potential as people with websites, email lists, and traffic promote your product or service. Normally, you pay a set cost per acquisition or a pre-determined percentage of the sale to the affiliate partner who referred the customer as a commission. Because this commission is results based, there is very little risk or cost involved for the advertiser.

It’s quite easy to get going with affiliate marketing, especially through the more established networks like LinkShare.com and Commission Junction (cj.com). These companies can help smaller businesses drive sales by recruiting and managing affiliates.

Email Marketing
When managed in the appropriate manner, email marketing is cheap, has great customer relationship management (CRM) potential and can be amazingly profitable. Good email marketing will build a strong personal relationship with the recipient and allow you to learn more about your customer’s likes and dislikes.

The most acceptable way to do email marketing in through permission-based emails. Here you would use a list of subscribers who have opted into receiving information via email from you. In terms of CRM, and achieving top results from your email marketing campaign, segmentation is key. Segmentation will allow you to cross-sell and up-sell appropriately, as well as target your emails appropriately so that you achieve maximum open and click-through rates.

Social Media Marketing
Web 2.0 is more collective and collaborative than what the internet was previously. Web 2.0 is characterised by user generated content (UGC), a large ‘social’ element, sharing and open source. This means that everybody can contribute, share and communicate more seamlessly and effectively.

Social media falls into the category of Web 2.0. Social media includes social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace, Bebo, LinkedIn and so forth, but also includes sharing sites such as YouTube and Flickr, blogs, wikis, podcasting and micro-blogging services such as Twitter. Any site that has an element of community, UGC and sharing could be considered as social media.

To leverage these communities as part of your internet marketing strategy is very powerful. Peer-referrals are far more highly valued than anonymous messages, and there is potential to have your brand and marketing message spread virally through pre-existing social networks.

You need to keep up to date with new developments and social media trends and sites to succeed in social media marketing. Also remember that social media is about conversations, not one way messages. This means that these interactions need to be managed, monitored and engaged with regularly. Simply throwing up a Facebook page is not a social media strategy – it is only a start.

eMarketing channels are most effective when they are implemented together as complementary strategies. eMarketing isn’t all that different from traditional marketing in that it’s still about getting your message out to the world. The main difference is that online you have to innovate more rapidly as everything changes so quickly.