Cyber Threat, Its Scope And Its Impact On National Security

Times have changed what was known as organized crime has been replaced by Cybercrimes (Heists: Cybercrimes with Ben Hammersley). Cybercrimes have risen dramatically in recent years and have become a major issue the United States and company’s face today jeopardizing as well as threatening the critical infrastructure of America (Cyberwar Threat, 2005). Sadly, the status quo of cyber security is very unstable with the advancements and growth which has put most individuals and businesses into an enormous threat (Agustina, 2015).

The fourth spoke on the wheel of terrorism is “computer crime”. The use of computers can be used in a good way or can also be abused. Cyberattacks are a huge threat to our national security and technological infrastructure.

Technologies have affected people in all walks of life. Technological innovations have helped improve our lives and changed our standard of living. Due to advanced technologies, we are able to have fast computers, smartphones, more advanced medical instruments, etc. Although technologies tend to benefit us for the most part, it also has its negatives attached to it. In our society today, there are up rise in identity theft, frauds, and other unlawful criminal activity being committed. The growth of cybercrimes is possible due to our information being easily obtained in the online world. Moreover, technological innovations have helped schools, governments, commercials, private and other parts of modern life to improve the productivity and efficiency. However, on the other hand, technologies as a criminal tool has enhanced the criminal’s ability to perform, hide, or otherwise aid unlawful or unethical activities (Reith et. al, 2002). Furthermore, although the vast majority of people uses computers and other digital devices for a positive reason, there are criminals that use these technologies to perform unlawful and unethical things to individuals and companies to obtain personal information.

With the widespread use of technology becoming more prominent, acts of cyber terrorism pose an increased threat to safety. Cyber terrorists exploit the internet and its users to commit acts that can be increasingly detrimental to their targets. Some of the terrorist activities include large scale corruption of computer networks by using tools like computer viruses. Certain individuals even have the ability of creating severe damage to government systems, national security systems and even hospital servers. Most of the technology made today only has intentions of making life easier for people. However, skilled users can manipulate the cyber world for negative intentions. Staying informed when it comes to cyber terrorism and cybercrime is important to do because of the increased reliance on technology in society. Steps to improve cyber security before an attack ensures the safety of sensitive information. The topic of cyber security and cyber warfare are interesting topics to keep up to date with. Understanding these topics can be beneficial to my dream of being in the FBI, ensuring the safety of others by working to prevent acts of cyberterrorism.

Cyber Warfare is an impending threat to the United States Homeland Security. Technology has been integrated into virtually every sphere of life in the form of computer technology including security. The threat is an invisible war with weapons of automation that have a detrimental intent to espionage and sabotage security. This research paper intends to investigate the history of cyber terrorism and why cyber terrorism has flourished.

Prevalent to the current trend now is the dependency of the society on Information technology and communication systems. Every aspect of human life is one way or the other linked and controlled by information technology tools. The importance of information technology cannot be over emphasized as its unavailability could lead to a form of disaster or the other. Pivotal infrastructures like finance, healthcare, education and security are driven by information technology. However, information technology and its benefits are accompanied by vulnerabilities and risks that can be exploited by people with the necessary technical skills. Individuals like ‘Hackers’ and ‘Cyber Terrorist’ can cause disruption to information systems, commit financial fraud and also attack computers and networks. These attacks and disruptions could result to violence against people and properties. In some cases, death, serious injuries and severe economic loss could occur as a result of these attacks.

Have you ever wondered how computers systems get hacked? Have you ever considered the criminals motives for engaging in such type of criminal activity? While computers and the Internet have undoubtedly brought great advantages to society. Computers have also paved new ways for criminals to engage in dangerous activities that are unprecedented in scope and could potentially cause catastrophic consequences for society. Cyber criminal activity occurs constantly, however, many people are unaware of the true meaning of cyber crime and their risks associated with becoming a victim of such crime. According to an article released by the Law school of the University of Pennsylvania “The term cybercrime refers to the use of a computer to facilitate or carry out a criminal offense” (Katyal 12). These criminal offenses can include, but are not limited to: telemarketing, identity theft, online money laundering, cyber terrorism, and cyber extortions. In an era were society at large relies greatly on computers and the Internet, it is crucial to understand the methods that cyber criminal’s use and the measures that one must take to prevent becoming a victim of cybercrime.

The cyber domain crosses both physical and logical borders across the globe. No longer is every aspect of a domain clearly part of a single nation. Occurrences within cyberspace has far reaching effects. 15 million T-Mobile customer’s data stolen via Experian server compromise, massive cyberattacks on Estonia and Georgia networks (2007 and 2008 respectively), and over $1 trillion reportedly lost due to cybercrime. These are just a few concerns facing global and state level security demonstrating significant concern and requirement for action. Criminal syndicates as well as other non-state and state actors use cyberspace to conduct illegal activities. In this, a common core of countries

Cyber terrorism has been a rising threat that continues to grow. This is the age of technology where every six months a new cell phone comes out. Technology continues to change and grows this is great for society. But with all these wonderful improvement there is also harm. This is where cyber terrorism comes into play. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) defines cyber terrorism as “the premeditated, politically motivated attack against information, computer systems, computer programs, and data which result in violence against noncombatant targets by sub-national groups or clandestine agents” . The age of cyber terrorism changed the way threats were assessed, it was no longer what was visible. It now became the unknown, for that reason the threats became

Thus far we have scratched the surface of the ever-perplexing problem of terrorism. As it has evolved those in the position of countering it have also gained some valuable experience. Even with this knowledge it is very difficult, bordering on impossible to prevent terrorist acts from occurring. In the recent past there has been an extra element added to this confusing and dangerous equation, the Internet and other computer capabilities. Cyber-terrorism is a realistic possibility but is it as detrimental as other forms of conventional terrorism such as a car bomb? I will argue that the implications of a cyber attack could be just as harmful.

Cyber terrorism is a new form of twenty-first century terrorism. Terrorist formed this type of terrorism based on society’s dependence on technology. Americans use technology for nearly everything they do. A few things they use technology for is to communicate with one another, make small or large purchases, access medical records, manage transportation systems, and to do online banking. A specific definition has not been applied universally. Cyber terrorism was coined by Barry Collins in the 1980s (Wilson,1). Defining cyber terrorism is complicated because of the abstractness that is implicated in understanding how certain events happened in cyberspace. Overall cyber terrorism is a cyber attack using or exploiting internet or communication networks to disturb a organization and intimidate a society. Data today states that terrorist groups interrupt the internet on a daily basis. As they continue to better their education and skills the government gets more and more intimidated. Many organizations believe that one day they will be able to exploit any vulnerabilities in online security systems or critical infrastructure institutions.

The possible threat posed by cyber terrorism has motivated considerable alarm. Many security experts have exposed the danger of cyber terrorists hacking into government and remote computer systems and service areas of progressive economies.

This paper proposes a policy directed examination on cyberspace crime and its impact on national security. It includes a profile of cooperation among criminals, organized crime and hostile organizations and discusses the growth of black market in IT services. In recent years, “Information warfare” a new form of terrorism has captured the attention of information security specialists; terrorists might tamper with computers to commit information based threats to nations, to businesses and to individuals.

Cybercrime or sometimes called computer crime is basically not a newly develop form of fault except for the fact that it has evolved itself over time by including newer and riskier modes of committing the crime often for money or may be accompanied by the most simple way to commit the crime, by theft. Cyber crime has its operations spread in a variety of arenas be it white collar crime, economic crime, telecommunication, intellectual property infringement, etc. information technology is the key player which assures the completion of such a crime.

Cybercrime has become a fast growing concern for the 21st century as businesses, institutions and individuals grow into an interconnected web of computer networks. Online business transactions, along with the sharing of personal information, are vulnerable to a host of disasters that can reap economic and social havoc. Some sources say that today, cybercrime costs more than $1.0 trillion to society--Global Industry Analysts, Inc. forecasted the world cyber security market to reach $80 billion by 2017 (Gale, 2011).