Is cyberterrorism a real threat? (contrasting viewpoints Yes/No)

Is cyberterrorism a real threat? (contrasting viewpoints Yes/No)

• Introduction
  • What is terrorism

Terrorism can be indicated to be the use of attack to create a universal condition of panic in a society and hence attracting political attention. This term originated at the time of the French Revolution in the eighteenth century.  Terrorism is commonly used to associate something with wrong did. Most governmental and non-governmental institutions use this term to show a group on the opposition. Terrorists are known for instilling fear to the public as they attack people publicly; engage in violent and dramatic assaults like kidnapping, hijacking, bombing, and other forms of attacks. On the other hand, Cyber terrorism can be defined as an attack on computer programs, information, computer systems, and data that causes violence. It can as well be referred to as the use of the internet to carry out violent activities threat that causes the loss of data and money as the hackers get access to personal or organization informants.  Cyber terrorism came into existence once the computers started to evolve, and the experts, together with inventors all over the world, competing on how to make more. The first Patent cyber terrorism took place in September 1983. The other cyber terrorism that took place in the 1980s was the Morris worm that happened in 1988. It was invented by Robert Tapan Morris, who, upon questioning, indicated that he was trying to test how big the internet was. Due to this malicious act, Morris was convicted under the United States computer fraud and abuse act. The worm is said to the first known worm to have affected the world’s nascent cyberinfrastructure as it spread in most computers, especially in the United States. The worm infected the weaknesses in the UNIX system Noun 1 and multiplied itself from time to time. The effects of this worm were that it slowed down the computer operations to the extent of being unusable.  Despite this, he is currently working as a professor at MIT.

There have been several debates on the types of activities under cyber terrorism. One of the debates is the one launched by the former United States Deputy Assistant Attorney General John G. Malcolm, who indicated that cyber terrorism is concerned with the use of computer systems to conduct terrorist acts. He also states that true cyber terrorism is featured by big destructions that are connected with an intention to cause harm to society or government. Additionally, George Kostopoulos provided differences between three types of cyber terrorism and other forms of criminal activities.  Additionally, Sarah Gordon and Richard Ford indicated that cyber terrorism includes the use of a computer to engage in illegal activities.

(Cyberterrorism Is a threat – Yes argument)

• Cyberterrorism:
  • Not a future threat, a current threat
  • US HOR view of cyber terrorism
  • Sarah Gordon and Richard Ford – Views on Cyber Terrorism and analysis
  • Convergence of Terrorism

• Current Examples of current Cyberterrorism (ISIS)
  • Major Components
    • Social Media
    • Hacking Activities
    • Online propaganda campaigns
  • Major Cyber Attacks

The number of cyber-attacks has gradually increased for the last few years. By the end of 2018, more than 800 million malicious cyber attacks had happened globally as per ….and there is no doubt that this year will break the record. Some of the biggest cyberattacks that have ever occurred since the creation of the world are adobe attack, panic at Sony, the South Korean nightmare, target targeted, Marriot hotels. Adobe declared the hacking massive in October 2013 of its Information Technology infrastructure. In this attack, more than 2.9 million accounts were hacked and stolen. To succeed in this attack, the attackers took merit of a security breach at the publisher, especially associated with security practices of passwords. Sony’s play station has once landed on the hands of hackers where the multilayer gaming service containing the vital data of 77 million users was leaked. More so, more than 50 thousand accounts of layers were as well compromised. Also, The South Korean discovered in January 2014 that their systems had been hacked and accounts of more than 100 million credit cards stolen over the course of the past few years. The second-largest retail chain known as Target also had its day, and hackers stole data from 10 million clients between the end of November and mid-December. The hackers were able to infringe on banking data of forty million clients and distorted the personal data in these accounts. In 2018, Marriott hotel announced a huge attack of their system where accounts of 500 million guests were compromised and their personal data stolen. Although the actual hearings and the exact number of victims and data stolen are not announced by the affected organizations, it is clear that cyber attack is not a joke, and it causes huge implications.

One reason that makes hackers commit cyber attacks is for monetary gains. The motive to become wealthy, especially among youths, makes them commit such attacks despite the dangers accompanying the crime. They also commit a cybercrime with a motive of intellectual challenge. Some hackers are interested in committing a crime with a motive of making a political point, as well as hiding crucial evidence of fraud by officials. For example, a bank manager can organize cybercrime on the bank with a motive of hiding the truth of the corrupted depositors’ money.

(Cyber Terrorism is not a threat – No Argument)

• Is Cyberterrorism Cyber-aggression?

According to ….., cyberterrorism refers to the act of using the internet to commit a violent activity that can lead to death or dangerous harm of the body aiming to attain ideological or political gain via intimidation or threat. In the recent past, terrorism has become an issue of concern from media sources and the government as they contemplate the magnitude of the damage it can cause to both public and private sectors. As such, governments, in collaboration with private agencies across the world, have prompted efforts to suppress cyberterrorism and cyber attack. There has been a chain of incidences of cyberterrorism. For example, Al-Qaeda used the internet to recruit and communicate with supporters globally. They also use the internet to recruit new recruits. Cyber-aggression is described as intentional damage subjected to a person or organization via electronic means. This definition aligns with that of cyberterrorism in one way or another. Both acts involve the use of electronic devices to cause harm to individuals or organizations. Note that cyber aggression is a broader issue, and now people should talk about it rather than concentrating on the narrow focus of cyberbullying. ……defines cyberbullying as the deployment of electronic means to bully a person. This act is primarily committed via sending messages of threatening or intimidating nature. Note that cyberbullying and cyberharassment are as well viewed as online bullying.   Apart from cyberbullying, there is also cyber violence, a term used to describe online behaviors that non-criminally or criminally can result in the assault of a person’s psychological, physical, or emotional well-being. This kind of violence can be experienced by an individual of all ages, organizations, and group of people via digital devices such as smartphones and gaming gadgets.

• Key differences in Definitions of Cyberterrorism

Viewing cyber terrorism through the lens of political motivations, it is clear that hackers commit it aiming to make a political point.  Cyberterrorism is a political issue, and thus governments understand that national interest is highly influenced by the cyber activities. Government across the world is working tirelessly to automate its systems in terms of both software and hardware since cyber is a paramount element that underpins the national economy. With globalization supported by communication technology, transport technology as well as global markets, and cyber deployed hugely within personal lives and economy, its impacts are deep-rooted into the political spheres. Cyber is used to reach a considerable population size, run economy, and at the same time, be used to commit a crime and thus affect national security.

Similar to the way computers, internet, and associated devices is revolutionalizing the work, these devices can as well revolutionalize terrorism in the same way. Cyberterrorism in the information error will convey conventional terrorism, in which it will enable the manufacture of lethal weapons such as guns and explosives aimed to destroy both offline and online properties and cause death to victims in the physical universe. Furthermore, cyberterrorism involves some concepts of techno terrorism that facilitates the destruction of infrastructure and thus cause disruption on the transport industry.

• If Cyberterrorism is not real, what should we consider it?

Although the incidences of cyber terrorism are taking place all over the world daily, there are some individuals who feel that it is not real. A research conducted in 2012 discovered that more than 30,000 magazines and journals have indicated that cyber terrorism is not real. This is because other forms of cyberattacks activities like criminal and espionage activities, are widespread. They are assisted by the use of computers that are used on a daily basis. They also indicate that cyber incidents are, however, resulting in minor and occasional major inconveniences that happen in the form of service disruptions maintains and repair, loss of intellectual properties, loss of revenues, property information, and increased security cost. The attacks are known for tarnishing the reputation of the government or attacked organization. Common disruptive occurrences within the cyber activities that have been caused by malicious terrorist actors have been indicated to the only evidence of these activities. For example, menacing scenarios of these activities might not be seen as if they affect the organization, but in the long run, they still have some negative impacts.

According to the study conducted by …….. shows that people have a different perception of cyber terrorism. Some individuals view it as a way of interfering with the online operations of an organization. Others view it as a way of deleting the organizations’ files from their computers while another group sees it as a loss of data that cannot have any impacts on the organizational operations. Furthermore, the perception that individuals have towards cyber terrorism is the one that shows cyber terrorism to be real, but it is not. This is because individuals can perceive to engage in cyber-terrorism but do not have the knowledge of how to carry it out. At the same time, there is no evidence on how cyber-terrorism impacts the psychological and emotional well being of individuals. These are because those who view cyber terrorism to be not a threat feel that cybercrime does not have any connections with an individual’s psychology and emotions.

Media is indicated to be the source of information as they report about all the happenings all over the world. Most researchers indicate that media has been featuring sensational headlines about terrorism, but this cannot be used to determine the level of terrorism. Also, they keep on reporting one issue of cyber terrorism, thus showing as if the incidences are rampant.

• The future threat of Cyber Terrorism

Since cyber terrorism is indicated not to be real, there is no likely hood for its occurrence. Nonetheless, since technological advancements are taking place daily, there should be enough measure of preventing cyber-terrorism from occurring. Also, there is no enough research that has calculated the probability of its occurrence. Therefore, due to lack of enough data, there has been an increase in the use of vulnerability-based analysis, and cyber terrorism could increase in the future without being noticed is researchers will not embark on studying the issue and give the correct figures.

Conclusion

From the above discussion, it is evident that cyber terrorism is real. This is because it is indicated to be the form of crime that is happening online, resulting in loss of data, revenue, among others. Different forms of cyber terrorism like Social Media, Hacking Activities, and Online propaganda campaigns are still increasing daily. Some governmental and non-governmental organizations have reported such incidences where their websites are hacked, and they end up losing everything. It has been affecting most organization operations because it makes them end up losing everything they had or paying ram some to the hackers in order to get back their property or data back. Although some individuals try to indicate that it is not really the reported incidences are enough to prove its happening.