Cyberterrorism And The War On Terrorism

235). The war on terrorism is not always fought by conventional means. Law enforcement at all levels of the government faces other terrorist forms of attacks such as cyber warfare. Cyber warfare or cyber terrorism can greatly damage our government; therefore, the intelligence community and law enforcement should partner up to find methods in preventing, preparing for, and responding to cyber-attacks. We must not forget the importance of communities and building positive rapport with them, because they are our eyes and ears towards combating foreign and domestic

Cyber capabilities are evolving rapidly every day which makes cyber-attacks more prevalent in the present day. In the U.S., the most notable and highly debated international cyber-attacks tie back to China. “For years, the United States has argued that economic espionage by governments is wrong and should stop”. It was not until recently that the United States made this argument heard. In September of 2015, President Obama announced that the U.S. and Chinese governments had reached a deal against cyber espionage. There are many different explanations as to what the causes are that ultimately led the U.S. and China to reach this agreement including, efforts to promote international norm, loss of sensitive information and economic

Many people are familiar with the act of terrorism since of one famous terrorist incident, 9/11, happened. Yet not familiar with the definition of terrorism. Terrorism is an effort to cause terror and damage by constraining a government. The other root, cyber, is relating to computers and information technology. In consideration, the United States’ definition of cyberterrorism is "a criminal act conducted with computers and resulting in violence, destruction, or death of its targets in an effort to produce terror with the purpose of coercing a government to alter its policies," This definition can be justified as a terrorist can be tormenting as small as hacking to cause denial of service to as big as hacking to launch dangerous weapons. However, what cyber threats are or are not identified as cyberterrorism. A non-political motive spam, doing pranks online, and impolite e-mails are not identified as cyberterrorism. These acts are identified as cybercrimes. Ransoms to gain access to your online bank account, shutting down major power grids to harm the U.S. economy, and causing generators to self-destruct in innovating laboratories are identified as

Cyber warfare is the new warfare domain. Understanding how to morally utilize the newfound capabilities will assist the United States to maintain military dominance as well as mitigate possible immoral tragedies. Cyber warfare and war envelops a vast array of topics available for discussion. Therefore, the topics of interest within cyber warfare will be confined to attacks on electrical grids and water treatment plants. War will be defined as in the constitution, a war that is declared by the U.S. congress or a conflict the President of the United States deems

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.

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):

Since the attack on the United States in September 2001, where thousands of people died, the United States has been in a state by which they believe that their biggest threat to their national security is terrorism. This even led to extreme changes with United States national security, as well as, putting U.S. citizens in a state of fear surrounding terrorism that they still haven’t managed to escape. Experts on terrorism, as well as national security have come to believe that the attack on 9/11 will lead to a rise in asymmetric attacks involving, but not limited to, nuclear and cyber weapons. This essay will highlight the challenges and or likelihood of the success of nuclear terrorism, whether cyber attacks could cause catastrophic harm on

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).

One of the fastest growing and challenging fields of law enforcement is the realm of cybersecurity and cybercrime prevention. Though the field is still in its infancy at the municipal level, there are many opportunities at the federal level that focus on matters of national security. Many countries are now dependent on internet-connected information systems that directly affect their critical infrastructure (Tofan, Andrei, & Dinca, 2012). Unfortunately, an attack against this critical infrastructure can completely cripple a nation, as evidenced in Estonia in 2007 (Shaikh & Kalutaragek, 2016). This particular attack is often seen as the first cyberattack on a nation’s critical infrastructure, and targeted governmental websites and financial institutions (Tofan et al., 2012). The attack lasted two weeks, and devastated the country’s network infrastructure (Tofan et al., 2012). Another recent example of the potentially disastrous effects of cyber-warfare is the 2010 Stuxnet attack on an Iranian nuclear reactor. In this particular event, the true dangers of a cyberattack were realized as sophisticated malware caused uranium enrichment centrifuges to fail (Singer, 2015). As the nature of cybercrime and cyber-espionage continues to evolve, law enforcement professionals will need to be hired and trained to meet the challenge head-on.

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:

So considering the types of attacks out there and the extremism with which they have potential to cause harm, it is clear that the threat posed by cyber-attacks is a very deadly one. Cyber-attacks have different origins from which they can be executed and the minds behinds those attacks may range from teenagers who are simply being mischievous, playing dare games, to identity thieves or groups that are after peoples’ financial information and identities to the most dangerous who might be enemy countries or terrorist groups who are mainly motivated by acquiring crucial information to instill harm to that particular nation or individual. Ashmore, W. C. in his journal Impact of Alleged Russian Cyber Attacks

Globalization spreads across the world connecting the people and states in ways little imagined. Cyber, a broad term, means various things to many individuals throughout international communities. Cyber war, unlike the wars of the past, does not fit into current perceptions of war. Yet, a fifth warfighting domain known as cyberspace is a new and growing realm of influence. Various states have or are creating cyberspace units, warriors, strategies and conducting operations (both defensive and offensive). Only hints of what is and will become cyber war crosses the public domain. Today, the truth about cyber war is that it does exist and occurs more often than the press or governments proclaim.

The terrorist threat is one threat that can not be taken likely and requires effort from all homeland security stakeholders to prevent the consequence of such a threat. This threat can come in so many different fashions that it requires a collaborative effort to prevent its effects. If a terrorist has access to an item that can cause harm then it can be added to the vast list of threats. There have been terrorist attacks that have occurred utilizing explosives, chemical weapons, small arms attacks, toxic industrial chemical and if other threats are available then these threats would be used to cause mass causalities. The terrorist threat may have a strong hold in certain parts of the Middle East but the threat has traveled globally. Through the use of the internet, the terrorist organizations are able to expand their propaganda and therefore spread their influence globally. The internet has caused a change in the nature of the terrorist threat by not just associated this threat as foreign but one that can inspire homegrown terrorism. In this paper, it will discuss how terrorists are able to spread their influence globally and inspire followers to become homegrown terrorists. This paper will also discuss how the internet is utilized as a means to get information to home grown terrorists that can be used in a terrorist attack. Lastly, the paper will discuss how homeland security professionals can meet the challenges faced.

International jurisprudence regarding the “use of force ” in matters pertaining to cyber-terrorism and the exercise of permissible of counter-cyber terrorism measures remains predominately unsettled “as… current international law does not specifically address cyber warfare. ” With respect, this legal brief draws upon the arguments put forth by Schmitt for the purpose of arguing that states shall only engage in counter cyber terrorism measures such as surveillance in accordance with the principles of “jus ad bellum [which defines] when states may lawfully resort to force [and] jus in bello which governs how force may be used once an armed conflict has commenced. ” In order to successfully argue that Australia has the right