Cyber Terrorists: Shutdown the Internet - Essay Example

?Cyber terrorists: shutdown the internet Introduction: Terrorism has been the common agenda to people all around the modern world. The concept of terrorism hit the social civilians of this planet in a bad way when The United States Of America was paralyzed by the attack s on the World Trade Center. It marked the beginning of Terror frightened world with numerous mishaps to follow. The major security forces of the world have strengthened their operation and have manipulated every possible measures to encounter the brutal acts of terrorist, but not very often they did managed to escape from the parasitism of terror. The terrorist groups have their super connectivity in every country of their choice and posses a strong network. They have carried out their attacks in almost every accessible strata of the universe and have not even spared the virtual cyber space. Competitions among the Technology makers have increased beyond leaps and bounds and innovation to provide numerous facilities to mankind has taken a high rise. The high generation technology offered to facilitate human being have also raised some questions among the critics as the safety of people all over is at stake thanks to a group of fellow people termed as terrorists. There is no dogmatic definition of cyber terrorism and its interpretation varies across society. The basic structure of the term deals with the culmination of terror and the use of Cyber space as a platform to synthesis operation in a large manner. The threats caused by the insane activities have stirred the mass and if no suitable measures are adopted then the pride of mankind will cease to exist. The breakdown of the cyber world will take place Types of cyber attacks: The most common form of cyber attack which was popular from the advent of the internet technology was hacking. Hacking procedures generally dealt with infringement upon others privacy and illegal access to files, WebPages and software and causing damage to the inbuilt system. However in present generation, the art of hacking is somewhat prestigious and an arousal of a new concept of ethical hacking has lead to legalization of the matter. The concept of ethical hacking has lead to the upgradation of many soft wares and has even strengthened the security of the internet. In recent times various soft wares have been generated which acts as the tool of attack in the cyber system and some popular among them are Trojan, password crackers, malware, key loggers. Scare ware is the most innovative among them as the attackers remove the program installed in the computer in payment of money. The evidences of lost or theft of data can be traced to various multi-national organizations in the western countries. These forms of cyber attack are popular in the business organization and had enormous implications in the running of the business. In case of most cyber attacks the attackers search for the vulnerability of security in the system and try to gain access. (Cyber attacks: from Face book to nuclear weapons) Different range of cyber attacks has been carried out against various alliances and the majority of them belong to the anti –US domain. On the context of the United States it is to be noted that the country have itself carried out cyber attacks in Iran’s secret nuclear program with the help of Israel. Various attacks have also been carried out which lacked any sort of political motivation. Cyber attacks relating to terrorism has been a serious concern for the security agents all over. The increase in volume of cyber attacks carried all over has been significant. The co ordination between the various attackers and their sophistication will prove to be massive threat from the attackers. The presence of various networking sites over the internet provides access to various likeminded groups and strengthens their unity and working virtually at the cost of nothing. The anonymity of the global access is utilized in a complete manner by the terrorist. One of the major difficulty faced by security agencies in underlying a cyber terror is that the traces out of the attack do not confirm that the attack has been carried out by a particular terror creating group or created by a mere individual for the sake of popularity. This poses a major advantage for the real terrorists who carry out such operations. Other than the example cited above there are various other advantages which the terrorist utilizes. The global access enables them to carry out operation from any corner. The presence of internet activity over most of the present generation mobile phones acts as an added advantage to them. The attacks can also be carried out in a much quick mode and serial operations can be taken charge of without any change of location of the attacker. The attackers can cause major physical harm to the human beings as major infrastructures are IT enabled and harm in the integrity of them will cause severe panic. Another possible mode of attack through the use of global network which has gained popularity over the years is the launch of hybrid attacks. This way of attack is not the conventional way of rendering attacks and is slightly different in nature. Example of hybrid attack includes the launching of various bomb attacks where the internet is used as a triggering devise. Other than the general modes of attack posed by the cyber criminals they also use the internet in various other modes in different ways which are explained below. (Cyber terrorism: the use of the internet for terrorist purposes, 26) Use of the internet by the terrorist: Presentation of their views: Most of the terrorist organization works undercover as they have been legally banned by their respective countries of origin or operation. It is quite evident that during the origination of the terrorist group, they faced problems and difficulties in gathering of the people who had similar views and hardly had any source to communicate and influence people and the media in particular. But the progresses of technology have helped them in a massive way. They promulgate their views, ideologies and their overall aim to the people all over with the help of the worldwide availability of the internet. Most of the terrorist organization have their own websites’ which help them to serve their purpose in a cost –effective way Arousal of threats and propaganda: The terrorists use the internet as a medium for the justification of terror and the glorification of their acts. The organizations carry out various threats propagandas with the help of their websites and create an era of panic among the people. They use the multimedia options effectively and even broadcast their material with the help of numerous television channels. Planning and Support. The ease of access to various information helps in the planning of the terrorist groups. Terrorists can collect data relating to each and every aspect of their attack from the various sources over the web. The presence of thorough and minute details in the form of satellite maps provides immense help in their working. This information is cumulated with other variety of information and helps to formulate strategy of their attacks. The skills and knowledge required to carry out over the web operation are also provided in the free market. Terrorist financing: The terror striking forces present all around are primarily run by the donations from individuals, foreign military organization or organizations that support their motive and cause. Internet acts a medium to help out with their financing. The typical mode of financing is through the virtual currencies and the help of online payment services where the identity of the donators is not revealed. The act of terrorist financing can be classified as reverse money laundering where legal money is used for illegal purposes. (Cyber terrorism: the use of the internet for terrorist purposes,33) Legal issues specific to cyber terrorism: The increase in number of cyber crime and cyber terrorism demands some regulatory laws to restrain their massive operation. Several countries like the United Kingdom and the United states have already understood the priority of the state and have enacted legislations in the matter of unauthorized access of data and the computer. The laws held guilty of a person who tries to access secured data and have intentions to modify or damage the data. In The United states of America password swapping is even held as criminal act. Framing of laws regarding the protection of information is easily dealt with the tangible matter of information which includes CD ROMs, papers; floppy disc whereas the authorities face much difficulty in dealing with electronic information thefts due to their intangible nature, and the countries like Greece and Italy faces serious inconvenience in this respect. Laws relating to sabotage of information and the computers are differently accounted for in different countries. In Belgium and Canada the damage to information without any harm to the physical medium is not chargeable for penalty whereas in countries like Japan, Norway, and Spain it is legally penalized. However the penalization can take place only if traces of harm of physical medium are reported. In some countries there are specific laws which cover the denial of service whereas in some countries it is related to damage of data and is not dealt separately. Owing to the great diversity and the racism, countries like India, Germany takes strict measures regarding hate speech, spread of violence, confiscatory statement which can hurt the sentiments of a group of people and indulge into acts which may harm the social security. The results awaiting such statements or measures can lead to massive discomfort and in order to stop those precautionary measures are taken. The popularity of some social networking sites had also lead to adoption of strict surveillance measures by the intelligence department of some countries and they have passed laws which will allow them to take a visit on the profiles of any person they wish to and take measures against if found breaching the code of conduct. Cryptography is another issue which can harm the security of the web world. In some countries there is proper regulation of import and export control by licensing regime. International agreements relating to decryption and cryptography have also taken place. A part of the patriot act in the United States of America deals with prevention of Cyber terrorism and measures are legalized to protect the internet from unauthorized operations. In India the presence of The Information Technology act provides rules and regulations for controlling web security. The developing countries should be aware of the harm which the threats from cyber crime can cause. Most of the countries are technologically improved and their daily operations of almost every sector are directly or indirectly dependent on technology. Utter importance needs to be given to them and they should device laws regarding their proper uses and any breach should be dealt strictly. The government and the security agent should infringe upon the suspicious websites and trace out their link and stop unauthorized access. There should be proper communication between the security agents of different countries as the matter relates to the security of global aspect. (CYBER TERRORISM IN THE CONTEXT OF GLOBALIZATION) Incidents of cyber terrorism: Various incidents of Cyber terrorism both in large and small scale have caused disruptions in the world. The first evidence of cyber terrorism was encountered in Sri Lanka when the guerilla supporters flooded the Sri Lankan embassy with thousands of emails over a period of two weeks’ time to paralyze the communication system. This stood as a mode of protest of the Sri Lankan Black tigers against the discrimination carried out by the government. The institute of Global Communication was hit badly by the Spanish protestors as it was bombarded by numerous electronic mails. The cyber terrorist also spammed the account of the members and the staffs. They main reason for the outburst of the terrorist can be referred to the fact that IGC was hosting a New York based journal which contained material on some terrorist group and demanded the immediate closure of the website. The authorities had no option other than to respond to the demands of the attackers. Technologically advanced country like The United States Of America was also hit badly when the power grid of the country was brought down due to the invasion of 1900 websites by the hackers (CYBER TERRORISM IN THE CONTEXT OF GLOBALIZATION). The evidence of Cyber terrorism causing direct physical harm is negligible; however the probability of such occurrence cannot be overlooked. The vulnerability of cyber laws and loopholes in operation of the cyber space can endanger the possible situation of cyber attacks causing ruthless physical destructions. The technology empowerment of the United States is known to the mass worldwide. All the sectors of the economy are network driven. Documents and information pertaining to any field are updated over the internet on a regular basis. Terror groups aiming to cause major impact on the country may look to breach security system, have an access to the confidential data and take necessary steps to cause panic among the civilians and the government. Infringement of U.S defense firms by China has already been traced out (China implicated in massive cyber attack targeting US). Probable infiltration of the cyber space of the country can lead the path to cause unexpected severe implications to the country and to the world in general. The major areas which could take a high tool are the countries defense system, the online payment system and the innumerable service facilities provided with the free space available. The risk of possible cyber attack can even cause the total web system to collapse. Impact of cyber terrorism The use of the computer and the internet as a medium of communication as become a common phenomenon among the terrorists. Under such circumstances concerns have been shown regarding the fact that the terrorists can obtain the necessary skills required to coordinate an attack on the computer system in the United States. It is believed that such type of an attack would be designed in such a way so that it harms the computers which are found to be operating in the “civilian critical infrastructure and government agencies,” this in turn would have an adverse impact on the U.S. economy (Wilson, 1). Critical infrastructures are basically those assets which are built by human like energy, communications, and water supply. These are the essential requirement for the survival of the state and its well being. Moreover it is the responsibility of the State to protect such infrastructures (Bosch, 188). In this context an analysis of the possible impacts of cyber terrorism becomes mandatory. A number of researches dedicated to cyber terrorism have showed that the critical infrastructures have in fact become the potential targets of the cyber terrorists. The critical infrastructures involve a considerable use of hardware, software, and communications systems. However the use of the above systems has made it vulnerable to both physical and cyber attacks (Critical Infrastructure- Threats and Terrorism). Telecommunications The sector which is considered to be big and diversified containing both cyber and physical elements is the telecommunications sector. Provision of voice and data service to the public through a variety of mediums like Public Switched Telecommunications Network (PSTN), internet, private service networks is provided by this sector. The extent to which this sector is important can be understood from the fact that this sector unlike any other sector reaches most of the other critical sectors (Critical Infrastructure- Threats and Terrorism). In fact cyber attacks can take place from any part of the globe at minimum cost and phenomenal speed owing to the “global nature of the internet and telecommunications” (Centre of Excellence Defense Against Terrorism, 9). Thus one can expect a direct impact on the “command and control of the operations” if ever a successful attack is launched against the telecommunication systems (Critical Infrastructure- Threats and Terrorism). Power supply The infrastructure which is considered the “driving force” of the American life in today’s world is energy. It is in fact a very crucial sector not only for the well being of the economy but also for national defense. Electricity and oil/natural gas are the areas in which in this sector can be divided. Electricity is a very important area and it is used in schools, hospitals, industrial plants and also for refining oil. Hence it is a clear fact that any sort of disruption in the supply of power would directly have an impact on the economy and on the defense. One can find an inclination of the electrical industry towards computer technology in order to provide an improved means of communication and “automation of control centers, substations, and remote protection areas equipment.” A number of equipments which are computer based like SCADA systems, intelligent electronic devices like relays, circuit breakers are used. There is also use of data processing units and communication process. Thus in case if any unauthorized person gets access to these systems through the cyber and can alter its settings then one can expect catastrophic outcomes resulting in mass blackouts (Critical Infrastructure- Threats and Terrorism). The damage that will occur due to such blackouts can be analyzed by a small example. a temporary power supply interruption problem in some regions of U.S and Canada in 2003 had resulted in the loss of millions of dollars. Hence any large scale attack by the cyber terrorist will surely have a large impact (Knop, Salnikov & IAshchenko, 92). Water supply The modern world has become very dependent on the computer technology for their everyday operational work and the water industry is no exception to this. In fact one can find the use of computers from billing to the amount of chemical dose requirement. Computer usage in the water supply has increased over the years and it is also used in case of increasing the security. It has been pointed out by the U.S. Law enforcement and Intelligence agencies that terrorists are trying to probe into those computer systems that control the water supply and the wastewater systems. The terrorist organization al Qaeda has been trying to get access to the control systems from a number of websites particularly on water supply and on management of wastewater in the United States. It has been pointed out that if communications between the control centre and the water distribution pump station can be hacked then messages could be blocked and wrong commands would be sent to the remote areas. Further concerns have been placed regarding the use of the cyber space as a means to release huge amounts of water treatment chemicals like chlorine into the drinking water of the public (Kroll, 95-96). Financial sector and its services The financial sector is an amalgamation of both physical structures and assets and also cyber assets. The whole infrastructure of the financial system is based on computer networks and telecommunications. Smooth operation of this sector is an important factor for maintaining the confidence of the public in them (Critical Infrastructure- Threats and Terrorism). An increase in the number of cyber attacks on financial institutions has been observed compared to other sectors. As the trust of the public is a crucial element in the financial service institutions so they are more vulnerable. If any incident regarding confidentiality, integrity, or transactions tarnishes its image then it will have a negative impact on its image. As these institutions are the custodians of the people’s money and personal data they have been one of the main targets (Janczewski, 85). The reliability of this sector towards cyber transactions makes it prone to become a victim of cyber terrorism. Financial services can be disrupted by virus attack, wrongful withdrawal of deposits can be easily possible, and leakage of individual information regarding credit can also occur. Transport System The area of transportation is also very vast and it includes aviation, rail, pipelines, and public mass transit. This sector is also critical for the U.S economy. The sector is responsible for the provision of mobility for the entire population (Critical Infrastructure- Threats and Terrorism). Like the other critical infrastructures, transportation is also heavily depended on the internet and the telecommunications systems. The increase in the use of such systems has also made this sector vulnerable to a possible cyber attack. As all the major components of the transport system are communicated through the virtual world so if the system is hacked and manipulations are made then it would be very harmful for the economy. Any sort of wrong signals would result in major accidents, which in turn would trigger loss of human life and economic loss to the nation. Mitigation from Possible attack: Owing to the possibility of cyber attacks the United States should maintain precautionary measures and should plan adequately to combat such incidents. The US government in general approves the consequence of such attacks and has framed the National Cyber Security Division to work dedicatedly in collaboration with the private and the multinational security agencies. There is also the presence of the United States Computer emergency readiness team (CERT) which works under the domain of the National Cyber Security division. It is to be admitted that the domain of the threats in cyber space is not restricted to any particular region and adherence to international cooperation is needed in a much larger scale. The assessment of vulnerability to the cyber space and remediation activities should be carried on a regular basis. Multilayered network should be designed in sectors of prime importance and the presence of resilient network should be provided to tackle security issues. Cooperation from the users is required in a good deal and they should follow the rules and guidelines specified. Several course of action have been devised for the users which specifies the strategy for safer operations of emails, mobile devices, and safe browsing options. Prevention measures relating to identity theft and their proper responses should be adhered to. The users should also be trained to react in emergency situations and the knowledge of adequate cyber security should be inculcated among the users. The user’s needs to be encouraged to install proper anti –virus in the system to stop from implantation of virus in their system and prevent unauthorized access of their files and documents. Conclusion: The threats imposed by the possible cyber attacks can be critical enough to drive the attention of the major security agents of the developed and the developing countries. The interdependence of technology and the economy of infrastructure are crucial to secure the resources of the information technology. The facilities provided by the creation of the web world should be protected so that the tide does not turn against our favor. Efforts should be made to prevent it from becoming an abode of illegal and unsocial activity. Upgradation in technology needs to be accompanied by the innovation in devising latest security measures. Post 9/11 attacks the security system has been upgraded to meet future challenges. Under such circumstances in the sphere of critical infrastructure no cyber attacks has taken place in the recent years but its vulnerability and the possible consequence is a clear thing. The mode of operation has shifted from their traditional methods and is more electronic based. As most of the critical infrastructures are based and controlled by the virtual space, an area of concern looms large. Keeping in mind the consequences of such an attack precautionary steps must be taken from before to avoid another catastrophe. References: “Cyber attacks: from Facebook to nuclear weapons”, The Ttelegraph, (2011), September, 12, 2011 from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/mediatechnologyandtelecoms/digital-media/8302688/Cyber-attacks-from-Facebook-to-nuclear-weapons.html Cyber terrorism: the use of the internet for terrorist purposes, Council of Europe, 2007 China implicated in massive cyber attack targeting US, global post, 2011, September, 12, 2011 from http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/asia-pacific/china/110803/china-google-cyber-attack-us-spearphish-trawl-dope Nagpal, Rohas, CYBER TERRORISM IN THE CONTEXT OF GLOBALIZATION, ieid, 2002, September, 12, 2011 fromhttp://www.ieid.org/congreso/ponencias/Nagpal,%20Rohas.pdf Wilson, Clay. “Computer Attack and Cyberterrorism: Vulnerabilities and Policy Issues for Congress” Congressional Research Service, IWAR, April 1, 2005, from: http://www.iwar.org.uk/cyberterror/resources/crs/45184.pdf Bosch, Olivia. “Defending against cyber terrorism: preserving the legitimate economy”, SIPRI, n.d, from: http://books.sipri.org/files/books/SIPRI04BaiFro/SIPRI04BaiFro16.pdf Centres of Excellence Defense Against Terrorism. Responses to Cyber Terrorism, Amsterdam: IOS Press, 2008. Knop, Jan Von, Salnikov, Alexey & IAshenko, V. A process for Developing a common Vocabulary in the Information Security Area, California: IOS, 2008. Kroll, D.J. Securing our water supply: protecting a vulnerable resource, Oklahoma: PennWell Books, 2006. Janczewski, Lech. Cyber warfare and cyber terrorism, Canada: Idea Group Inc, 2008. “Critical infrastructure- Threats and Terrorism”, US Army Training and Doctrine Command, FAS, August 10, 2006, from: http://www.fas.org/irp/threat/terrorism/sup2.pdf Read More