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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."
Conventional terrorism that the world is familiar with whether carried by individuals or groups intended to use human nature of fear to gain political or financial gains. Fear is always associated with a terror act and the same as with cyber terrorism, it's using human nature of fear to gain political or financial gains, but the mechanisms to conduct this fear is different, it is our current state of technology that we utilize in cyberspace. The literature review provided an inside look at how cyberspace is being utilized as a platform for launching terrorist attacks as well as combating those attacks and threats of attacks. The real-world examples of cyberterrorism activity reviewed illustrate the complexity, power, and fear that these incidents can cause. The attacks against governments or corporations, such as the attack on Iranian nuclear program, Sonny and the 2016 Democratic National Committee email leak show link between cyberterrorism and critical infrastructure. Type of infrastructure targeted and the suspected players involved posed implications as far as counterterrorism concern. Malicious codes written to target SCADA systems was sophisticated, unprecedent and posed an implication as far as the industrial control technology concern. This type of computer worm changed the theoretical hypothesis into reality, where computer technology may be used and directed to cause physical damage. Weaponizing computer technology using sophisticated malicious codes to target infrastructure and causing physical damage constitutes a cyberwarfare competition and demonstrate the ability may be used by adversary and cause physical damage.
2018
The idea that terrorists could cause massive loss of life, worldwide economic chaos and devastating environmental damage by hacking into critical infrastructure systems has captured the public imagination. Air traffic control systems, nuclear power stations, hospitals and stock markets are all vulnerable targets for cyber-terrorists wanting to wreak havoc and destruction. Counter-terrorism investigation in Europe have shown that the use of the Internet is an integral component in any terrorist plot. Terrorist groups are resorting to encryption and anonymising tools in order to keep their identities hidden while they communicate, plan attacks, purchase illegal materials and perform financial transactions. The possibility of an act of cyberterrorism against critical national infrastructure requires serious attention from legislators. There is no concrete legal definition of cyberterrorism internationally. A wide range of possible cyberattack scenarios exists - including acts of hacktivism against websites - and it is not clear which of these scenarios would fall within definitions of terrorism under domestic law. While terrorists continue to use the Internet mostly for communication, propaganda and information sharing purposes, their capabilities to launch cyberattacks remain limited.
2019
Technological advancements provide different avenues for a terrorist to employ their attacks. Cyberterrorism is defined as the act of hacking and the malicious intent to disrupt and destroy computer networks of financial institutions and governmental systems such as nuclear power plants or governmental agencies (Iqbal, 2004). Cyber threats/crimes are the act of
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
Defining Terrorism 161 Traditional Definitions of Cyberterrorism 164 Operationalizing Cyberterrorism as a Multipurpose Tool 165 Propaganda, Information Dissemination, and Recruitment 166 The Internet as a Medium of Communication 173 Training, Research, and Facilitation 176 As an Attack Vector 179 Conclusions 183 References 184
Cyberterrorism is a growing global concern. Since computers control the majority of the developed world’s infrastructure, it is easily penetrated by dedicated hackers. Cyber-attacks can create enormous damage at very little cost to terrorists. Cyberterrorism concerns activity that utilizes electronic communication networks to further unlawful and violent ends.
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.
2019
The purpose of this essay is to present a theoretically informed and operationally useful definition of cyberterrorism to advance research in the fields of terrorism and cyberscience as well as to inform policy makers. The operationalization distinguishes terrorist events that are distinctly and fundamentally cyber in nature from those that are not. It frames cyberterrorism as a form of aggression and distinguishes it from other forms of cyber aggression: cyberwar, cyber espionage, cybercrime, and cyber mischief. The essay includes illustrative cases to identify key features of cyberterrorist events relative to other cyber and non-cyber aggression and concludes with a clear process to classify cyber aggression as cyberterrorism or not.
SA Journal of Information Management, 2003
Information security may be the realm of specialists, but today it touches the lives and safety of millions in the developed world. In this column appears as attempt to sketch short profiles of the most pressing issues. Cyber-terrorism: reality or paranoia? The new millennium-if there ever was one in any scientific meaning of the term-has been ushered amid a media circus of a Y2K scare and predictions of total world paralysis. It did not realize, and we were all relieved for a while, short as it was, until something far more dark and sinister in the shape of two airplanes hit the World Trade Centre. The amount of vital data and information lost in that attack has brought home a new threat to haunt those responsible for information security: cyber-terrorism. Increasingly, the world depends on computers. The systems residing on them control power delivery, communications, aviation and financial services. They are used to store vital information, from medical records to business plans to criminal records. These computers are vulnerable to the effects of poor design and insufficient quality control, to accident, and perhaps most alarmingly, to deliberate attack. The modern thief can steal more with a computer than with a gun. Does it follow, then, that tomorrow's terrorist may be able to do more damage with a keyboard than with a bomb? New term, old game Terrorism is a much-used term with many definitions. The US Department of State defines it as 'premeditated, politically motivated violence perpetrated against non-combatant targets by sub-national groups or clandestine agents'. If we combine this definition with the term 'cyber', we end up with a working definition of cyber-terrorism: 'The premeditated, politically motivated attack against information, computer systems, computer programs and data which result in violence against non-combatant targets by sub-national groups or clandestine agents' (Politt 1998). For the term 'cyber-terrorism' to have any meaning, we must be able to differentiate it from other kinds of computer abuse such as computer crime, economic espionage or information warfare. Using this definition, a number of things that are often miss-associated with cyber-terrorism can be eliminated. For instance non-politically motivated computer crimes, like the 16-year-old hacker's 1994 crashes of 100 US defence systems, or the creation and release of the Nimda worm (or any other worm for that matter). These were not acts of cyber-terrorism, although both were serious incidents with the potential for great harm. They lacked the essential ingredients that would allow for the term 'terrorism'. Unlike a virus or computer attack that simply causes a prevention or delay of service, a cyber-terrorist attack leads to physical violence of some sort or extreme financial harm. Therefore, possible cyber-terrorism targets include the banking industry, military installations, power plants, air traffic control centers and water systems. Cyber-terrorists are not merely individuals seeking to cause harm or damage wherever they can. They are people or groups with political agendas.
International Journal of Cyber Warfare and Terrorism, 2016
The aim of this paper is to identify common features in: the definition of cyber terrorism, cyber terrorism targets, cyber terrorism crimes and then develop effective mitigation strategies and countermeasures to tackle this phenomenon. Through rigorous analysis of literature covering academic articles and official reports, we develop cyber terrorism definition taxonomy which includes five elements: target, motive, means, effect and intention; cyber terrorism targets taxonomy identified from the following target areas: military forces, government cyber and physical infrastructures, critical national infrastructures, social and national identity, and private industry and entities. The cyber terrorism risk factors are classified into main five categories: national security, financial, social and cultural, operational disruption and physical destructions risks. The following identified patterns constituted the cyber terrorism targets taxonomy: incursion, destruction, service interruption, disinformation and web sites defacement. The authors categorized effective strategic approaches to tackle cyber terrorism as: administrative, technological, national and local alliances, international alliances, and education, training and psychological approach. They developed cyber terrorism taxonomies which represent a systematic organization and classification of knowledge that improves scientific awareness of cyber terrorism definition, boundaries, potential targets, crime patterns and effective mitigation strategies.
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.
sites.google.com
2021
The article focuses on the destructive phenomenon of cyberterrorism as an atypical manifestation (form) of traditional terrorism, carried out in the light of the intense development and wide dissemination of information and communication technologies (ICT) in the modern world. Based on the analysis of conceptual approaches in the understanding of the phenomenon under consideration, the conclusion is based on that cyberterrorism is a relevant conceptual notion (term), which is perceived as a method of committing a terrorist act (truncated understanding), or as any terrorist crime committed with the use of information and communication technologies (broad). Based on a comparative legal analysis, the authors examine as characteristics of regulatory and legal counteraction to cyberterrorism in the international criminal law system. The study of the mechanism of the international convention to combat traditional terrorism allows us to test the hypothesis on the potential applicability of...
Hacettepe Univeristy, 2016
Convergence of cyberspace and terrorism, that is cyberterrorism, might be an underrated issue for the moment due to the absence of real world examples. However, the ongoing transformation from old to new terrorism and changing perceptions of war and state security proves the opposite. Cyberterrorism is a resourceful, innovative, and an unconventional way to produce unpredictable and online threats against the traditional state marked by strict physical borders. Due to the significance of new terrorism for state security and IR, it is important to understand why current definitions are remaining to be ambiguous, complex, and insufficient in combating future cyberterrorist threats. Characterizing such a complicated phenomenon might not be an easy task, whilst without knowing what cyberterrorism is, and what it is not, we cannot develop better solutions or generate better responses for state security. Departing from these concerns, this thesis asks: what could be the proper definition for cyberterrorism? The aim is to provide a new, operational framework to address lacking insights in the current literature.
TERRORIST USE OF CYBER TECHNOLOGY, 2021
The risk posed by terrorist use of cyber technology and cyber terrorism have been of great concern to politicians, decision makers, security officials. This article studies terrorist use of cyber technology and cyber terrorism along with history of cyber-terrorism. Moreover some concepts such as between cyber-crime, cyber-terrorism, cyber-warfare and hactivism will be analysed. Furthermore, the challenges faced by international organisations in tackling cyber terrorism will be discussed; measures introduced in some countries to address cyber terrorism treats are presented as well as discussions on the present and the future treat posed by cyber terrorism and terrorist use of cyber technology.
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