Cyberterrorism: Navigating the Dark Side of the Digital World

JOURNAL OF DEFENCE STUDIES, 2021

The ever-growing dependence of man on cybernetworks has unbridled a modish genre of cyberthreat called cyberterrorism. The pervasive cyberspace has provided an advantageous operational frontier to the terrorists for executing cyberattacks on critical infrastructures, spreading hate propaganda over the Internet and using it for recruitment, planning and effecting terror attacks. Furthermore, it has proliferated terror configurations and metamorphosed terror operations. There is the most urgent need to secure our cyberspace from such formidable cyberthreats. Formulating a cybersecurity strategy through international cooperation is a desideratum to confront mushrooming cyberterrorism which poses a severe threat to global security and current economic scenario. This article examines cyberterrorism as a component of cyberthreats and further analyses the constitutional obligation of the state to protect cyberspace.

Throughout history, there have been many events and dangers that threaten state security, causing heavy loss of life, disease, injuries, destruction of property, displacement of large numbers of people and heavy economic losses. Political unrest on international and local levels and recent technological developments increase the seriousness of threats against national security.

Several recurrent themes emerge in this summary of the conference's seven panels:  It is clear that cyberspace opens considerable potential opportunities for terrorist activities, including communication, fund-raising and attacks. It remains an open question whether terrorist uses of the Internet constitute an evolutionary or revolutionary dynamic. This question hinges, in part, on one’s view of how the Internet differs to earlier technologies.  There are multiple constraints on terrorist engagements with cyberspace. First, the feasibility of the terrorist activities listed above varies considerably with some requiring very little technical knowledge and others necessitating a high level of expertise. In addition to this are further constraints such as financing and the comparative desirability of more traditional attacks for reasons of visibility or knowhow.  A range of legal and political instruments are available within national and international bodies with which to confront the challenge of cyberterrorism. However, these instruments are limited by different factors including: different strategic cultures and capabilities across countries; the language and construction of existing legal instruments such as the ‘use of force’ requirement in international law; and, sensitivities towards sharing information and data.  Distinguishing between different types of cyber-threat is challenging, in part, because motives and behaviour in this realm are difficult to identify and monitor.  The value of existing models and methods of deterrence to confront challenges such as cyberterrorism is unproved, at best.  Efforts to address threats such as cyberterrorism raise considerable ethical as well as political, legal and technical challenges.  Cyberterrorism has a discursive existence as well as a ‘material’ one. How this phenomenon is framed or constructed in media and political language matters greatly.  The disciplinary backgrounds and commitments of academics are not incidental within debate on the definition of cyberterrorism. In part, this is because of different views of the purposes of definition itself: to ensure effective communication between researchers and/or policymakers; to facilitate cooperation across jurisdictional boundaries; to distinguish terrorism from crime and war; or, to impose limits on investigative and prosecutorial powers. These conclusions show clearly the considerable scope that exists for further multidisciplinary research into the issues surrounding responses to cyberterrorism, the threat that it poses and the concept itself.

International Journal of Sustainable Future for Human Security

The advent of the Internet over 20 years ago has led to human beings around the globe becoming increasingly dependent on it as a means of communication, commerce, news gathering and socializing. This dependency has offered a perfect platform from which to launch cyber terrorism. This paper investigates the wide-reaching consequences of using the Internet in terms of human security. Our study finds that cyber terrorism, like traditional terrorism, has an obvious negative impact which involves economic, legal, physical, psychological, political and social consequences. It is the aim of this paper to show how these consequences pose a significant threat to human security and sustainability.

Terrorism, one of the vilest crimes, faced by the human community has posed an immense challenge in the post Cold War period. It has existed since the emergence of human societies endangering innocent lives and jeopardizing human rights and fundamental freedoms. Though the conventional motives have remained the same, the traditional concepts and methods of terrorism have taken new dimensions that are more destructive 1 and deadly in nature. In the age of information technology the terrorists have acquired an expertise to produce the most deadly combination of weapons and technology, which are much more modern and scientific. This phenomenon where the cyber space is used to launch terror attacks is also known as cyber-terrorism. It has the potential to do indeterminable harm not only by paralyzing computer infrastructures but also comprehending the use of the cyberspace to support and organize traditional forms of terrorism, such as bombings and suicide attacks. It also poses a deadly threat on the national security of a state by offering a garb of anonymity to the perpetrators of terror. The increased dependency on information technology has dramatically increased the security risks. This new menace will be a severe challenge to global security unless there are appropriate security measures to help prevention. Hence, to understand cyber terrorism, and find out the ways in which the terrorist organizations are using the advantage of this new technology, a look at its background is necessary. This paper shall make an attempt to discuss the rising incidents of cyber terrorism across the globe, the meaning and concept of the term, the motives and methods behind an attack. It shall also discuss the regional and international mechanisms to prevent cyber terrorism, and recommend what more could be done.

Terrorism and Political Violence

This article reports on a recent survey designed to capture understandings of cyberterrorism across the global research community. Specifically, it explores competing views, and the importance thereof, amongst the 118 respondents on three definitional issues: First, the need for a specific definition of cyberterrorism for either policymakers or researchers; Second, the core characteristics or constituent parts of this concept; and, Third, the value of applying the term cyberterrorism to a range of actual or potential scenarios. The article concludes by arguing that while a majority of researchers believe a specific definition of cyberterrorism necessary for academics and policymakers, disagreements and debates around what this might look like have additional potential to encourage a rethinking of terrorism more widely.

: CONTEMPORARY MACEDONIAN DEFENCE - INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC DEFENCE, SECURITY AND PEACE JOURNAL, 2013

It is more than obvious that the way of conducting terrorism with the time is becoming more sophisticated. The cyber terrorism is real threat to fast technology development. Potential targets are systems which control the nation’s defenses and critical infrastructure. The terrorist of the future will win the wars without firing a shot - just by destroying infrastructure that significantly relies on information technology. The fast growth of the Internet users and Internet dependence dramatically increased the security risks, unless there are appropriate security measures to help prevention. To understand cyber terrorism it is important to look at its background, to see how the terrorist organizations or individuals are using the advantage of new technology and what kind of measures governments and international organizations are taking to help the fight against cyber terrorism.

As the addiction of internet is increasing at a highly increasing rate from our mobile phones to our streets, from our streets to our colleges, from our colleges to our work places, from our work places to our hospitals and from our hospital to everywhere, the risks caused by cyber terrorism has also increased. During the past few decades, the threats posed by cyber terrorism have increased to a deadly rate. It has raised a question mark to the Government's security policies and agendas. This caused Government agencies to revise their security policies. It has raised awareness of the other channels that terrorists might be adopting to accomplish their ambitions. These attacks are planned to cause severe economic damage to someone and even in some cases it harms someone's life. This research is designed for a clear understanding of a layman what cyber terrorism exactly is

Cyber-threats can range from minor electronic crimes to more sophisticated fraud and the infiltration and compromise of systems, networks and supply chains causing significant damage and harm. Cyber-threats are actioned by more than terrorists; actors who engage in cyber-threat activities and events vary from individuals, corporations involved in industrial espionage, criminals and criminal enterprises, terrorists and terrorist organizations and even nation states; recent reports indicate that Russian forces hacked a U.S. surveillance drone flying over the Crimea region of Ukraine in March 2014 by allegedly severing the connection between the drone and its operator using an undisclosed, complex radio-electronic technology, resulting in its interception. These asymmetrical characteristics are distinctly different than that of conventional threats, requiring specialized, “cutting edge” skills to prevent, detect, respond and recover. The Internet has added a level of ambiguity and comp...

The tremendous achievements and the development of the leading technology, sophisticaled computer systems opened new " cyberspace " that constantly destroys the old traditional forms of organization, behavior and belief. Cyber information led to cyber revolution and the emergence of the information society, which dominates the race for information and communication technologies, in parallel the global liberalization and free circulation of people, goods and ideas (Stern, Jessica, 1999). Today, thirty years after the introduction of the term, the concept of cybernetics, it inevitably became a primary component of many important terms: cyber society, cyber policy, cyber economy, cyber warefare, cyber terrorism, cyber crime, in which essentially the most precious crown represents cyber information. Cyber terrorism is an important cybersystem of cyber warefare, and is very difficult to detect and counter because it is almost impossible to determine the political affiliation or sponsors of its prepertators.

This paper aim to contribute to the body of knowledge on cyber terrorism, improves awareness of cyber terrorism definition, boundaries, potential targets, crime patterns and effective mitigation strategies through analysis of relevant literature on the issue produced in recent years. It details the definitional origins of the concept and It looks at motivational factors and level of destruction necessary to classify a cyber-attack as cyberterrorism. The second sections is devoted to literature distinguishing cyberterrorism from hacking and cybercrime. Section three details the stages of a cyber attack, Section four lists the types of infrastructure targeted for cyber terrorists and Section five focuses on mitigation strategies.

The phenomenon of terrorism is changing, while the motives of terrorism remain the same. The world today faces new and unfamiliar kinds of weapons. The international system,intelligence systems, security procedures and tactics which are expected to protect people, nations and governments, are not able to meet this new and devastating enemy. The methods and strategies that have developed to combat terrorism over the years are ineffective in the face of this enemy. The reason for this is that the enemy no longer attacks only with hijacked plane, or truck bombs or suicide bombers strapped with explosives. The enemy attacks with ones and zeros. This is the weak point, the integration of virtual worlds with physical worlds. It is Cyberterrorism.4 This paper outlines a PhD proposal, which is an attempt to design an effective a framework for the potential impacts of cyberterrorism on society, particularly on sense of security, compared with the effects posed by traditional terrorism. That will be by identifying the title and topic area, research purpose, questions, methods and resources. In this proposal a preliminary review of relevant literature will be introduced, followed by the research questions that the writer intends to address and the proposed methods to answer the questions. Then research ethics and the expected time frame will be represented.

Cyberterrorism is an extension of terrorism, and is a result of the resourcefulness of terrorists and their adaptability to ever-changing society and technology. It is further defined as: 7 "The premeditated, politically motivated attack against information, computer systems, computer programs, and data which result in violence against noncombatant targets by subnational groups or clandestine agents."