Case Study: Cyber-Terrorism

Modern terrorism, as deduced from this literature, is acts to violence strategically used by secular groups spanning international borders with the aim of achieving a desired outcome. Further, it can be seen as organized activity whose genesis can be traced back to the 1880’s. From then to now there are identifiable traits and patterns observed from different (terrorist) groups which have allowed for the conceptualization of the term modern terrorism. This concept therefore, can be best explained in the context of being a wave or having a life cycle. That means it is a cycle of activity demarked by phases from inception and expands along the way then eventually it declines. The world, thus far, has experienced four waves of modern

Terrorism has become popular among extremists who are employing different dynamic strategies to thrive in their agenda. Understanding the terror groups is fundamental principle to overcome them or counter the sects. Modern terrorism has additionally advanced. Today 's assaults are less incessant, however all the more savage. Terrorists beforehand acted like renegades trying to connect with the foe (Miller, 2013. This was trailed by a period of kidnappings and plane hijackings. States create first class counter-terrorist strengths, extraordinarily prepared at prisoner transaction and salvage. Like the youngster 's amusement - paper-scissors-stone the following phase of advancement was the appropriation of bombings as the favored strategy (Roberts, 2014). Bombs can be delivered from basic materials, put and exploded remotely, with generally okay to the planes and little open door for counter-terrorist strengths to catch them. Terror groups like the IRA, Al-Qaida, ISIS and Boko

In this day and age living in the era of the computer, it has become more mainstream and common to hear of cyber attacks, and crime being committed on the internet. Activism however, has become a prominent way to protest or argue a political view. Using related technologies and the internet have become a vital way for some to share their views. With the rise of the internet, “hacktivism” has become a prominent way for protest groups to express while also promoting a political agenda often related to free speech, human rights, and freedom of information.

Terrorism has been creating havoc across the globe for the entirety of recorded history. Today, with the invention of the Internet and different computer programs, these radical groups that enact these deadly attacks are able to change the way they operate through the use of technological advances to further their onslaught on humanity. The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation defines terrorism as “the unlawful use of force or violence against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives.” (International vs. Domestic Terrorism). Every person on the planet can be affected by terrorism, regardless of religion, gender, or race. Throughout history radical groups who become obsessed with their own opinions and beliefs try to force others to believe in their views through displays of violence and terror. Contrary to modern beliefs that terrorists are only radical Islam groups like Al Qaeda and Isis, but in reality almost every group of people from Christians to even environmentalists have enacted radical terrorist attacks. Terrorism, like technology, is not exclusive to industrialized nations or countries but is available to anyone with the right resources. These technologies are used throughout the world to connect average people to others and is almost always used for good. Terrorist organizations take advantage of new found communications

As we move past defining terrorism we are now looking to give it an identity. Terrorism is an act that is acted out by groups and individuals. There are always some command grounds in differences when you evalute one terrorist to another. Person or group. Some command areas might be methods of employement and desired end result. One of the biggest difference between terrorists (group or person) is politics or motivatoin behind the act and a countinuing agenda. In order to obtain data and provide comparisons to such items as mentioned two executors of terrorism were selected. One individual Timothy McVeigh(domestic) and one group al-Shabaab (international). The intent of this paper will be to compare the key similarities and differences between Timothy McVeigh and al-Shabaab, reference one terrorist activity and the motives of the attacks for each and provide an assessment of which is a greater threat to the United States (threat should be interpreted as threat to the national security of the United States).

Cyberattacks can range from instantaneous to time-delayed and staged in several waves. Attackers can often go as anonymous and can even frame other people. There are also no clear ways to figure out an attacker’s motive or if they are acting alone or as a group. Due to the open-nature of the Internet, it is easier to organize an attack rather than defend against one. Developed countries are also more prone to cyberattacks because of their heavy reliance on technology. Furthermore, many countries categorize cyberthreats as a law enforcement issue rather than a national security threat. This means they are more focused on a set trial and conviction based on criminal intent and a criminal act. Meanwhile, a national security threat can be dealt with based on the severity of the situation. Overall, there is no global consensus on how to effectively deal with

In order to properly answer the question posed we must first define what cyber-war and cyber-terrorism are. The Oxford Dictionaries defines cyber-war as “The use of computer technology to disrupt the activities of a state or organization, especially the deliberate attacking of communication systems by another state or organization:” Although there is no dictionary definition of cyber-terrorism, The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) has defined it as “the use of computer network tools to shut down critical national infrastructures (e.g., energy, transportation, government operations) or to coerce or intimidate a government or civilian population.” The author defines cyber terror as “the intimidation of civilian enterprise through the use of high technology to bring about political, religious, or ideological aims, actions that result in disabling or deleting critical infrastructure data or information.”

Anonymous has claimed to have taken down accounts on twitter, battling against the terrorist group ISIS (Cimpanu, 2015). This type of approach, I view as hactivism as it is fighting against terrorism. I view Anonymous as a hacktivist group as they merely try to raise awareness to current events and the real terrorists using the digital world as their battleground. However, groups like Lizard Squad I will view as a cyberterrorist group. In (Gilbert, 2015)

Technology in the twenty-first century changed terrorism quite a bit. The evolution of the internet introduced cyberterrorism to us. Cyberterrorism can be defined as the intentional use of computer, networks, and public internet to cause destruction and harm for personal objectives.

Since 2010 there have been over 13 major cyber attacks in the US, the FBI categorizes the severity of the attack based on what could possibly be at stake such as information on US citizens or hijacking of critical information . Cyber attacks are classified as crimes committed with the aid of a computer. Cyber crimes are considered felonies, however most people who commit the crimes can usually not be found. Recently there has been an uprising in cyber crimes, in the year 2017 alone 9 minor incidents have occured (minor attacks can consist of malware and internet “trolling” which is a form of cyberbullying) and 4 major crimes have been committed. Most crimes consist of identity theft, robbery, and hijacking private information. Recently programmers have been able to build security systems that can detect a threat almost immediately. With a growing expansion of technology protecting information gets harder day by day. Cyber security is the body of technologies, processes and practices designed to protect networks, computers, programs and data from attack, damage or unauthorized access.

According to Furnell and Warren (1999), Evidence suggests that technology is growingly seen as a potential tool for terrorist organizations and the widespread use of information technology by terrorist groups and organizations has led to the birth of a new class of menace termed “Cyberterrorism”. Cyberterrorism could be used in many diverse ways. Sometimes, a country’s pivotal infrastructures could be shut down and harmed using computer network and tools. There have been impediments in trying to give a clear and concise definition to the term “cyberterrorism”. But Denning (2007) which supersedes Denning (2000) gives an unambiguous definition to cyberterrorism:

The drawback of Estonia's information technology framework was that its defensive protocol was not much secure and could be easily hacked. Moreover, the country was much depended on internet.

The history of terrorism can be traced back as far as the French revolution. Some of these acts of terrorism only seem as distant reminders of our past, but at the same time, are not a far cry from today’s brutal acts; and although these acts seem distant, it doesn’t also mean they are no longer in the thoughts of individuals in today’s time.

Cyber warfare attacks can disable official websites and networks, disrupt or disable essential services, steal or alter classified data, and cripple financial systems -- among many other possibilities (definition of cyberwarfare) “.The Tech Target definition includes no reference of nation states. That is because cyber warfare has such a low barrier to entry, a teenager can effectively shut down or damage thousands or millions of dollars of digital infrastructure, something that a real world counterpart would take years to plan, would take weeks, and the only tools needed are a mouse, keyboard, and some type of motivation. Cyber warfare is constantly evolving, constantly becoming more of a threat and is, in fact, being employed right now as this sentence is being read.

The damage of a full-fledged cyber attack would be devastating, the destruction would be unparalleled to any other tragedy that has occurred America. Since technology is responsible for providing America with vital entities and resources, an unadulterated cyber attack would nearly fail the American economy; this is what is known as critical systems failure. Weapons of mass destruction and cyber attacks present imminent threats of critical systems failure. Although currently Americas’ critical infrastructures are coordinated by controlled systems, majority of these systems are indeed connected to the American cyberspace. This exposes one of America’s most vulnerable spot amidst cyber security. Another major vulnerable spot within the nations IT security would be the geographical physical location for each of Americas primary infrastructures, as well as their productivity. Due to the proximal locations, the major infrastructures could very well be infiltrated by one efficient CNA.