IEDs can be hidden anywhere: in animals, planted in roads or strapped to a person. They can be detonated via cell phones or trip wires, among other methods. They can be deployed everywhere: in a combat environment or in the middle of a busy city.
On November 14, 2013 the new FBI Director James B. Comey addressed the Senate Committee on Homeland Security where he briefly went over some of the major threats we face. Among them “Counterterrorism” – which he called “our top priority”.
“Counterterrorism remains our top priority. The FBI works with our law enforcement and intelligence community (IC) partners to integrate intelligence and operations and to detect and disrupt terrorists and their organizations.”
“As the Boston bombings this past April illustrate, the terrorist threat against the United States remains very real. We face a continuing threat from homegrown extremists, especially those who act alone or in small cells. Homegrown violent extremists (HVEs) present unique challenges because they do not share a typical profile and their experiences and motives are often distinct, which makes them difficult to identify and their plots difficult to disrupt. Al Qaeda and its affiliates continue to encourage extremists in the West to follow this model by engaging in individual violent attacks and have already incorporated the Boston bombings in their propaganda. The Boston Marathon bombing suspects are from the North Caucasus, but the links, if any, between the bombing and that region remain unclear. We currently assess the threat from North Caucasus-based militants to the homeland to be minimal as they remain focused on fighting against Russian security forces in the North Caucasus”, he said.
“The Boston bombing also demonstrated the devastating potential of an improvised explosive device (IED) crafted from simple components, which could inspire other extremists to use such tactics. The devices used in Boston were similar in design to instructions widely available online. In addition to the Boston attack, over the past two years we have also seen extremists attempt to detonate IEDs or bombs at such high-profile targets as the Federal Reserve Bank in New York, the U.S. Capitol, and commercial establishments in downtown Chicago, Tampa, and Oakland. Fortunately, these attempts, as well as many other plots, were thwarted. Yet the threat remains”, said FBI Director James B. Comey (source: Testimony before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security http://www.fbi.gov/news/testimony/homeland-threats-and-the-fbis-response).
See related article: Head of Pentagon IED office sees Boston Bombs as part of a pattern http://www.forbes.com/sites/lorenthompson/2013/04/29/head-of-pentagon-ied-office-sees-boston-bombs-as-part-of-a-pattern/
See related article: 30 year prison sentence given to man who tried to blow up bank in New York http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/10/nyregion/30-year-sentence-for-man-who-tried-to-bomb-federal-reserve.html?_r=0
See article: US charges 7 in the bombing at US capitol http://www.nytimes.com/1988/05/12/us/us-charges-7-in-the-bombing-at-us-capitol.html
See article: Feds: US Teen held in jihad terrorist bomb attempt in Chicago http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-09-16/news/chi-man-charged-with-trying-to-blow-up-downtown-bar-with-car-bomb-20120915_1_fbi-agents-jihad-bomb
See article: FBI thwarts Oakland bank bombing http://www.sfgate.com/crime/article/FBI-thwarts-Oakland-bank-bombing-4263660.php
See article: The IED: The $30 dollar bomb that cost the US billions http://www.npr.org/2011/12/18/143902421/in-iraq-fighting-an-improvised-war