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The dangers of cyber terrorism
What motivates terrorists to attack
What motivates terrorists to attack
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Although an act of cyberterrorism has yet to occur, officials and scholars continuously study the possibilities of such an attack. As our physical and virtual worlds continue to intertwine the risk of such an event rapidly increases. Everything from our transportation systems to pharmaceutical manufacturing are computer controlled. The closest the world has come to an act of cyberterrorism was in 2000. Known as the Maroochy Shire case in Queensland, Australia was committed by Vitek Boden. Boden was an engineer for Pacific Paradise, a sewage pumping in Australia. He was able to successful hack into a control system modifying the operations and dumping millions of litres of raw sewage into the local waterways. Boden’s motivation was the only reason the act was not classified as cyberterrorism was his motivation. It was personal rather than political or religious in nature (Sharp Parker, 2009). The only reason this wasn’t the first act of cyberterrorism was motivation. As companies invest in upgrading their technological capabilities, they too need to invest in security structure to protect their systems and the public from threats of terrorism. Our government must also decide how to address public safety in regards to cyberterrorism. On September 11th, 2001 America was reminded how vulnerable we are when it comes to acts of terrorism. The sheer complexity and varying design of attacks often makes it very difficult to create a catch-all defense in fighting terrorism. To improve the disruption of terrorist activities by government agencies in the United States many laws needed to be updated to include the latest areas of electronic communications. In response to the attack on the World Trade Center in New York City, Congress passed... ... middle of paper ... ...orism. Agents can successfully trace computer intruders, share information, and operate on a global level aiding their efforts to protect Americans at home and abroad. Works Cited 107th Congress. (2001, October 26). Retrieved March 1, 2010, from U.S. Government Printing Office Home Page: http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=107_cong_public_laws&docid=f:publ056.107.pdf Department of Justice. (n.d.). What is the USA Patriot Web. Retrieved March 1, 2010, from Department of Justice: http://www.justice.gov/archive/ll/highlights.htm Doyle, C. (2002, April 15). Retrieved March 1, 2010, from Federation of American Scientists: http://fas.org/irp/crs/RL31377.pdf Sharp Parker, A. (2009). Cyberterrorism: The Emerging Worldwide Threat. In D. Canter, The Faces of Terrorism: Multidisciplinary Perspectives (pp. 245-255). Malden: John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
At this juncture, it may be somewhat difficult to accept the proposition that a threat to the telecommunications grid, both wired and wireless, in the United States could potentially be subject to a catastrophic cyber attack. After careful research on the subject, it appears the potentiality of an event of such magnitude, which either disrupts one or the other grids for a long period or destroys either, is both theoretically and realistically impossible. It may be that proponents—those who advance such theories—equate such “doomsday” scenarios as if a cyber attack would or could be of the same magnitude as a conventional or nuclear military strike. Terms such as “cyber Pearl Harbor,” “cyber 9/11” and “cyber Vietnam” have been used to describes potential catastrophic cyber attacks and yet, “Though many have posited notions on what a ‘real’ cyber war would be like, we lack the understanding of how such conflicts will be conducted and evolve.” (Rattray & Healey, 2010, p. 77). Yet, the U.S. government continues to focus on such events, as if the plausibility of small-scale cyber attacks were not as pressing.
The Patriot Act has been under scrutiny and opposition since its creation following 9/11. When 9/11 struck it was clear that Americas intelligence was lacking in some specific way, but it was translated that America needed greater allowance for gathering information. The Patriot Act was signed on October 26, 2001, very close to 9/11. It can be concluded that the Patriot Act was signed with such extreme ability’s applied, because of how close it was signed after 9/11. The Act Greatly expands the liberty’s if law enforcement in their efforts to gather information, which in turn imposes on the privacy of the American people. The FBI has the ability to study any citizen suspected of terrorism, and has access to all their information. Wire Taps and other invasive action are allowed and granted by the Patriot Act. Was the Patriot Act signed to quickly? Are its measures to extreme? When is the line drawn on how much power the government can have? Is the Patriot Act effective enough that it is necessary? Should we as Americans willing to trade freedom for safety? Can the Patriot Act effectively stop or hinder terrorist attacks; has its stopped enough attacks to be validated? Another question is does America want a government that has that much power, how much are we as Americans willing to sacrifice, and how much more liberty’s is the government going take. If the government can pass the patriot act, what other legislation can they pass? In reality it all comes down to the American people, we are democracy but do we have the power in are hands? When finding all these questions one asks do we need an act that is in fact this controversial? Is the Patriot Act a necessary evil? To find this answer we have to answer all the questio...
To provide evidence for his argument, Rid first establishes the meaning of war based on history after which he thoroughly examines contemporary events that have been largely referred to as embodiments of cyber warfare. For example, he cites the cases of Georgia, Estonia and Siberian pipeline explosions as incidences that have been considered cyber war. (Rid, Cyber War Will Not Take Place, 2012) However, he goes on to analyze each case as to whether they embody any of the three elements that define war. For instance, in the case of Georgia he argues that despite the war rhetoric by the international press, there was no actual violence that could be directly linked to the cyber-attack itself. In addition, there was not political attribution as no one accepted responsibility and no one was conclusively adjudged responsible. (Rid, Cyber War Will Not Take Place, 2012) He therefore concludes that ...
Noggle, C. A., Dean, R. S., & Horton, A. M. (Eds.). (2012) The Encyclopedia of
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Cyberterrorism is an act that is planned beforehand, which disturbs the natural functioning of electronic devices for political gain (Maggio, 2009). One important factor that determines whether an act is considered cyberterrorism is it has to hurt someone or something and cause enough damage to create fear (Maggio, 2009). Some examples of cyberterrorism are shutting down servers that control power grids hacking into a railroad track system to cause accidents. Hacktivists can sometimes be confused as cyberterrorists (Maggio, 2009). Generally, hacktivists do not cause as much damage as cyberterrorists but there are similarities (Maggio, 2009). Such as political motivations, and damaging property (Maggio, 2009).
The world is currently in an era of technology where any information is almost immediately available. This includes information in areas such as stock exchanges, weapons, banking information, corporate transactions, and governmental secrets. Every industry is becoming so tightly coupled with the internet that the concept of being disconnected is almost unthinkable. However, increased connectivity means increased risk. All of this information is not only available for people to learn from and use positively, it has considerable potential to be used to harm. Terrorists have the ability to use these resources to their advantage in gaining strategic information about their targets and use it in an attack. However, these potential threats do not only come from outside forces.
Cyberwarfare is becoming a very serious problem. It is equivalent to a “sneak attack” that is so powerful, that in milliseconds, unknowingly, can instantly disable a country 's financial infrastructure, take down Web sites belonging to anyone from the local mom & pop business around the corner to the White House, America’s defense military structures and many others. Because of the challenges for security experts, it makes it near impossible for some of the attacks, big or small, from being detected. Furthermore, the complexity of the perpetrators warfare will make it equally difficult in in not only identifying who they are, but bringing them to justice. Attacks have become much more widespread, technically sophisticated, and even more potentially devastating by the minute. As the advancement of technology continues to progress forward at a rate of speed never going to slow down, so does the threat of cyberwarfare. Both go dangerously hand in hand.
Giant print reference ed. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan Pub. House, in the House of Representatives, 1994.
The greatest threat America faces is the threat of terrorism on our national institutions. The paper
However, there are confident styles that can help in building a clear change between both doings. For instance, in most of the belongings of terrorist PC system attacks, the terrorists’ movements have been concentrated on website destruction and email violence and bombing. For cyber terrorism cases to be viewed in a way alike to typical terrorism, the deeds of the former requirements more or less to tolerate they attraction and greatness of the last, meaning expiry/ damage to the human lives or physical demolition or damage to the property, and to be caused through the means of the Internet. The term cyber terrorism usually includes acts that look like to a definite amount those which are the characteristic of terrorist’s spasms via unoriginal means. As to the term cybercrime, it generally includes an illegal action on the internet as a
The nation has become dependent on technology, furthermore, cyberspace. It’s encompassed in everything we deliver in our daily lives, our phones, internet, communication, purchases, entertainment, flying airplane, launching missiles, operating nuclear plants, and implicitly, our protection. The more ever-growing technology empower Americans, the more they become prey to cyber threats. The United States Executive Office of the President stated, “The President identified cybersecurity as one of the top priorities of his administration in doing so, directed a 60-day review to assess polices.” (United States Executive Office of the President, 2009, p.2). Furthermore, critical infrastructure, our network, and internet alike are identified as national assets upon which the administration will orchestrate integrated cybersecurity policies without infringing upon and protecting privacy. While protecting our infrastructure, personal privacy, and civil liberties, we have to keep in mind the private sector owns and operates the majority of our critical and digital infrastructure.
In summary there are many problems that currently affect the response to cyber crime and cyber terrorism. We need to collectively address this problem more seriously, and begin training our security departments thoroughly, as well as establish diplomatic boundaries and international laws about cyber terrorism threats in an aid to keep terrorist groups at bay. Knowledge is power, and the more educated the American people are about cyber threats, the safer our great country will be.