Terrorism : The Causes And Forms Of Cyber Terrorism

As the internet usage has increased, it also has become an element for radicalization, therefore, develop a national cybercrime unit model to analyze potential terrorist attacks, addressing virtual space and technology.

Abstract: Everyday security is provided by the states and federal government. These tasks get more difficult as new technology introduces itself. Cybersecurity is one of the most popular security sectors in today’s world. There is not only cyberbullying going on in the world. Terrorism can be planned and sent from person to person over the internet. People’s identities are being stole to help carry out these terrorist acts and this is just the being of it. The United States created the Department of Homeland Security as a result of the 9/11 attacks. This was an effort to prevent future terrorist attacks on our nation. Along with that department, laws have been enacted, such as the USA PATRIOT Act. This law was introduced and passed to provide Federal, State, and local law enforcement agencies with better resources to fight and stand up against terrorism. The way to successfully providing security against domestic and international terrorists is to understand the mentality of a terrorist. Critical assessments, more efficient alert systems, and physical security standards must improve in order to solidify our current security posture if the United States wants to deter future terrorist attacks against its culture and economy.

The Internet has changed and advanced modern society in unimaginable ways since its conception. Banks, transportation, entertainment, and even power and sewer systems are now controlled and operated through the Internet. This has allowed major improvements to society as a whole. Power is now delivered more reliably, many people can now access their banking information remotely from their phones, shopping can be done completely from the comforts of the home, as well as many other amazing things. All of these things are convenient and helpful, but have exposed American citizens and infrastructure to the new threat of cyber based attacks. These attacks can be directed at American institutions or to the general population. I believe that the threat

Adam Segal’s “The Hacked World Order” reveals many prevalent issues in today’s technologically centered society. Starting at Year Zero, June 2012 to June 2013, the battle over cyberspace witnessed world-changing cyberattacks. This was accomplished due to the fact that nearly 75% of the world’s population has easy access to a mobile phone, and the Internet connects nearly 40% of the total human population, which is nearly 2.7 billion people. With that being said, cyberattacks are becoming a more realistic form of terror.

The existence of cyberterrorism has been around since the 1980’s, but defining cyberterrorism has proven to be difficult especially within the United States. Devising a common terminology has been extremely difficult because there have been various published definitions from agencies such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Department of Defense (DoD), The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Justice (DOJ). Each agency has there own distinct understanding of what cyberterrorism means and because of the lack of a more unified definition, the area of cyberterrorism suffers from a limited source base to draw upon based on variables that are not so easily identified.

During the age of globalization modern technology has made terrorism global by putting communication in the hands of even the poor and disenfranchised. Among them are terrorists who convert and circulate information via the internet. Technology also allow terror cells to map and monitor potential targets.

In order to provide a better conceptual understanding of the concept of cyber terrorism, consider the following definition by Czosseck and Geers (2009) as

Cyber terrorists exist today. The Osama bin Laden Crew (OLB Crew) is a group of self-proclaimed cyber jihadists. This group is reported to have been founded in 2000 by Abdullah Quraischi, an al Qaeda member living in Europe. The group’s activities have consisted of the creation of dozens of Web sites and forums that provide information on gun making, explosives manuals, as well as large-scale recruitment promotions and propaganda (AntiTerrorism Coalition, 2005). Remember, the overarching concept about cyber terrorism emerges where terrorism meets cyberspace. As previously stated, this takes the form of facilitating the underlying communications and control infrastructure of terrorist organizations, and also includes the dissemination of a group’s activities, as well as the facilitation of knowledge exchange. But this is only the beginning in understanding what a cyber terrorist does (i.e., reported and unreported), and may yet still do.

Cyberterrorism is also clearly an emerging threat. Terrorist groups are increasingly computer savvy, and some probably are acquiring the ability to use cyber attacks to inflict isolated and brief disruptions of US infrastructure. Due to the prevalence of publicly available hacker tools, many of these groups probably already have the capability to launch denial-of-service and other nuisance attacks against Internet-connected systems. As terrorists become more computer savvy, their attack options will only increase.” (War on Terrorism, 2003)

Terrorist use the internet to display propaganda, recruit and train, gather funds, coordinate attacks, publicize their acts and enhance their image (Wright, 2008). The internet makes transactions fast and easy for terrorists to plot and execute their attacks. The number of terrorist websites have grown astronomically from around one hundred to more than five thousand with websites offering tutorials from creating explosives to video gaming where even young children can pretend to kill American soldiers. Extremists use the internet to spread rumors and misinformation as well as enlist

Terrorism has been an ongoing problem in society; however, Cyberterrorism is relatively new. Our country has to adapt to all media threats and how to handle them effectively. A strategic plan needs to be put into action such as finding the enemies goal for the threat, who the enemy is, what their operational techniques are, as well as the resources they have to actually carry out this threat. Terrorist groups now utilize technology to carry out and construct their attacks, which is a possible threat to the United States. This article discussed how military, legal, and political parties confront a threat, and the difficulties associated with cyber- terrorism. For prevention, they analyze domestic and international law and address vulnerabilities in the system, such as setting up a firewall. Also, changing, or rethinking, previous understanding of cyber terrorism by focusing on response and responsibility. Additionally, there are other ways to prevent cyber-terrorism. For example, tradeoffs, tensions, calculations and choices. Every tactic in this article is very descriptive; therefore, I chose three important points to further explain in depth, which are domestic and international law, addressing vulnerabilities, and trade-offs and tensions.

It is much easier for these terrorists to obtain weapons to carry out such attack rather than execute a complex attack to bring the Internet crashing down. These terrorist attacks aim to “provoke fear, dread, and terror” among a wide audience, spreading further than the victims themselves (Kenney, 2015, p.124). Although many believe that cyber terrorism is merely a threat, the United States has earmarked billions of dollars to advance technology and security procedures to protect our vital information technology

Terrorist cyber-attacks on national institutions will result in greater devastation than a cyber-crime directed against an individual. At the current rate in which technology is increasing, establishments must constantly upgrade their system’s security. If the national institutions fail to be vigilant to the present day cyber threats, they will become victims of terrorist cyber-attacks. “Our nation's government, military, scientific, commercial and entertainment sectors all operate on the same networks as our adversaries” (Alexander 18). A terrorist cyber-attack that is successful, has the potential to put people at risk, by allowing sensitive information to get into the wrong hands, disrupting resources, or by altering system information in corporations, to cause harm or confusion. Since a terroristic attack is focused on causing violence or chaos, the targets at risk would be “energy sources and electric grids, water and sewer systems, manufacturing, banks, transportation and communication networks” (Brenner 15).

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.

A lot of opinions and meanings has been given to the word “Cyberterrorism”. Some of these meanings and definitions varies. In this light, Gordon and Ford (2003) are concerned that when 10 people define cyberterrorism and nine of the given answers are different, and these 10 people represent different government agencies tasked with safeguarding national assets and infrastructure, then it becomes a critical issue.