Advantages And Disadvantages Of Cyberterrorism

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.

Cyber security policy is largely dominated by two separate but similar incidents, cyber terrorism and state sponsored events. A cyber terrorist attack may be defined as a computer based attack, the purpose of which is to cause enough destruction that it intimidates a government into compliance for political purposes (XX1). State sponsored attacks, by contrast, is the intentional use of cyberspace by governments to illegally obtain classified information from another state. Such information may be used for malicious purposes, such as assessing an enemy state's weaknesses (XX). As mentioned in Chapter 3, Canada's cyber security agencies have existed since the early days of the Cold War. However, the maintenance of Canada's

Hypothesis: The United State’s foreign policy will make a shift in the coming years to focus more intently on suppressing individual groups that use terrorism as a political strategy, rather than focusing on specific and identifiable States as in the past. The organizations mentioned before will be using the Internet to coordinate attacks, as well as attempt to hack US Government systems to their advantage. As a result, cyber security and antiterrorism stand to be the biggest future challenges for American foreign policy.

Tomorrow’s terrorist may be able to do more damage with a keyboard than with a bomb (National Research Council1). The United States Department of States defined terrorism as: “…premeditated, politically motivated violence perpetrated against non-combatant targets by sub-national groups or clandestine agents.” Terrorism not only occurs on the real life today but also on the internet. As the technology rapidly developed, there is an increase in the usage of internet, the threat comes along the way. Due to the occurrence of internet terrorism-generating fears to the public, the term “Cyberterrorism” was coined by Barry Collin in the 1980’s (Cyberterrorism Defined). The definition of cyberterrorism differs from various legal systems and government

Cyber-terrorism is the convergence of terrorism and cyberspace. It is generally understood to mean unlawful attacks and threats of attack against computers, networks, and the information stored therein when done to intimidate or coerce a government or its people in furtherance of political or social objectives.

While terrorism dates back to around 1 BCE, it has become much more prominent in our everyday lives within the past few decades. We are constantly worried about the next attack, when it is going to happen, and where it will be. Whether it is physical or cyber, terrorism is one of the top concerns for the United States. Although it is extremely difficult to define, the U.S. Department of Defense describes it as “the calculated use of unlawful violence or threat of unlawful violence to inculcate fear intended to coerce or to intimidate governments or societies in the pursuit of goals that are generally political, religious, or ideological objectives” (Hoffman, 31). While it is hard for us to understand why someone would cause something as horrific as 9/11 or the Paris bombing, terrorists believe that they are doing good and helping the world. They are very methodical, have missions, rules and regulations, followers, and goals that they want to achieve. The goals of terrorism are to evoke fear, fight for religious, ideological, or political change, and to obtain worldwide recognition for what they have done.

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)

If the attack is intent on interfering with the, social, political or economic running of an organisation or nation, or to, provoke either physical violence this qualified as cyberterrorism

Conway (2014) identifies four factors that limit the potential of terrorist groups using cyberattacks and preferring cyberterrorism over traditional terrorism (using VBIEDs as a medium-level terrorist example):

Cyber terrorism is just as its name implies; it is the utilization of the internet for the purpose of causing terror. Today’s cyberterrorist have several methods available for achieving their goals. The first of these is a general term known as “Hacking” which refers to anyone gaining access to a computer or a network of computers to which they are not allowed. There are various forms by which a hacker can gain this access. Hacking is comprised of five key methods utilized for the purpose of gaining that access to a computer or computers whichever may be the case. A terrorist could use hacking methods such as packet sniffing, Tempest, password cracking, or buffer overruns to gain access to unauthorized computers for the purpose of stealing credit card or other financial information. They can also use these tools for the purpose of gaining control of a specific computer or network

It is said that this “New Terrorism” has changed in the fact that it is now a network, it is facilitated by information technology, it has more amateurs within it and the increased willingness to create an attack where mass casualties are desired. Although a majority of these qualities are found to be true, especially with regards to information technology, the differences between new and old terrorism are not substantial enough to say that “New Terrorism” is something completely separated from terrorism in the past, and or to say that it is more dangerous or successful. What is said to be new about terrorism is not as much new as it is a transformation of the characteristics that were already known of terrorist groups, “[t]errorists may be increasing their use of information technology and modern communications may facilitate networks but networks as a structure for terrorist or violent non-state groups are not new” (David Tucker, What is New about the New Terrorism and How Dangerous is It?). With the attack on the United States in September 2001, there has become this idea that with an attack of that scale, organization and skill, then there must be something different about terrorism in the twenty-first century that is making them more dangerous, in regards to mass casualties, and more successful, in the sense that they got away with hijacking a plane and crashing it, to ultimately kill thousands of

The issue of security is no longer an aspect that easily definable or that can be controlled through traditional means. During the Cold War era, security was defined in terms of the nuclear threat and that of global war in the bipolar system. Today, and especially after the 2001 terrorist attacks over the United States, the issue of terrorism has become rather debated and is seen as the main threat to security. Even so, recent events have placed yet another major threat on top of the list of menaces to national and international security. Cyber threats are nowadays one of the most important aspects to be taken into account when drafting security policies and dealing with risks at the level of the state or the international security. In order to provide a clear image of this argument it is important to review both terms of the comparison, terrorism and cyber threat, providing information on both, while considering actions to follow.

The National Conference of State put the legislature (NCSL) which many finer points of the definition of the term use of information technology by terrorist groups and carrying out attacks against the network, computer systems and

As Maras notice, it is imperative to note that not all events that a terrorist association might be included in through the Internet, or every cyber assault write a concrete, constitute manifestations of cyber terrorism. Maura Conway at Dublin City University depicts how a show of cyber terrorism must "ingrain dread as commonly comprehended (that is, result in death or vast scale obliteration), and they should have a political inspiration (Conway, 2002)." Terrorist associations of the total of what Hues have been using the Internet for different means including gathering pledges, arranging, and enrollment since its dangerous development in the 1990's (Weimann

The target audience of this paper is decision makers who are concerned with the topic of counterterrorism. These include the members of the legislature as well as officials in various government agencies dealing with counterterrorism. The current state of counterterrorism entails the use of violence and military action, such as a drone in combating the activities of terrorists. Other alternatives to the use of violence include policies focusing on the patriot act and the collaboration of various government agencies who are concerned with counterterrorism. The advantages, as well as the disadvantages, of each policy options, are discussed. Moreover, a comparison of the various policy options is discussed. The implications of each policy option politically, socially and economically are also discussed. The recommended policy option is a policy that focuses on the United States Patriot Act aimed at preventing terrorists before attacks actually happen, through the interception of communication. This saves on resources that could have been used in responding to a terror attack. The implementation of the recommended policy on counterterrorism entails the making of changes to the Patriot Act so as to make it more effective and constitutional.