Cyberterrorism and the Impact of the US Patriot Act

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.