Cyber Terrorism and Information Warfare - Dissertation Example

 Cyber Terrorism and Information Warfare Introduction The advancement in technology has had both positive and negative impact on the society and in the business fields. Where as it can be said that great achievements have been realized in the mode of conducting business such as online shopping, ecommerce, money transfer, advertisement etc, internet crime can also be said to be one of the major setbacks that has emanated from conducting such activities (Salifu 2008). In fact, it can be said that internet crime is one of the most common crimes which is growing at a worrying pace. Statistics from the internet complaint center confirmed an increase of approximately 35% from the year 2007 which had approximately 210, 000 cases to approximately 280, 000 reported cases in the year 2008 (Salifu 2008). It therefore shows that there is a need to address this problem so as to prevent this upward trend in the crime development. This essay is an evaluation of the various types of internet crimes, how they are accomplished and where possible, the proper measures that can be taken to prevent the crime in order to make the use of internet safer. Internet Crime The virtual nature of the internet makes it difficult to trace and to track cases of internet crime. This is due to the fact that different countries have different laws that govern the usage of computers e.g. piracy. Being a global network, it is not possible to classify components of the internet into territorial boundaries (Casey 2004). For example, it is hard to arrest and prosecute a Canadian internet user who accesses a Japanese website containing pirated music and videos. The laws in these two countries are different and therefore, there would be no means of arresting and prosecuting such a person. In addition, a person visiting the website may not be traceable since there are no guarantees that he will be at the point he was accessing the site from by the time the authorities manage to track him down. Furthermore, there is no identification that is required in order to access most of the websites making it even more difficult to trace the offenders. Some of the internet crimes which are committed occur even without the realization of the offender. For example, acknowledgement of products and some of the contents in the websites that are protected by copyright laws is a necessity whenever someone uses them either in his research or for other reasons. However, most of the internet users do not realize this and if it were to be considered, above 50% of internet users at one time or another will have breached the copyright laws (Casey 2004). This can be proved by various cases of plagiarism reported in various universities whereby students just download materials from the internet and present them as the bases of their research. The universities due to their strictness in the marking of such projects are able to identify such materials but the highest number of users goes undetected and unpunished. Internet crimes can be categorized into two main types i.e. those that target the information systems connected to the internet and those that are conducted over the internet i.e. they use the internet to accomplish their missions (Salifu 2008). Those that target the networks are for example designers of computer viruses, hackers and crackers, etc while those that are conducted over the internet may include and not limited to fraud, gambling and spam. Computer viruses are programs that are designed by rogue programmers with the intention of causing harm to the victim’s computer systems. The criminals, after designing the viruses, usually attach them on the vulnerable websites which they use as a medium for dispersing the viruses. They display beautiful messages and logos which prompt the unsuspecting users to click may be to win prizes or to download free soft ware or music. After honoring the request, the viruses are downloaded into the machine from where they can be spread to other computers. Once they attach themselves to files and documents in the computer, they have the ability to replicate themselves onto the whole system and network without the knowledge of the system administrator and eventually cause total break down to the computers. Reportedly, at least 200new computer viruses are created every month. This has been enhanced by the growing number of professionals in the software development field (Jones 2005). Availability of technical support provided by the wealth y information that can be found on the internet has also contributed greatly to the development of viruses. They can also be transmitted from one machine to the other through various methods. These include and not limited to download from the internet, connecting infected removable storage devices, sending and receiving infected files and documents in a computer network etc. The viruses can also be spread through telecommuting which is a mode of working which incorporates employees working from remote locations and sending the completed work directly to the company’s database. If the remote computers used by the employees are virus infected, there is a risk of transmitting the viruses to the company’s computers. This mode of working also exhibits vulnerability to hackers who may intercept the information before it is delivered to the destination (Parks 2008). The company should therefore enhance its data base security by providing free antivirus soft ware to the employees. Data encryption should also be done to protect information being sent so that hackers may not benefit from their criminal activities. To protect the computers from this menace, antivirus software should be installed in all the machines after which, it should be updated regularly in order to keep up with the advancement of the criminals who design the computer viruses. Every storage device and the computer itself should be scanned for viruses regularly in order to detect and remove the infections and also prevent further transmission of the viruses. Hacking and Cracking Hacking refers to the situation whereby malicious persons (hackers) break into computer networks with the intention of stealing important information (Parks 2008). This information can later be used to cause malicious damage to the integrity of the organization for example by availing it to the press for reporting or it can also be sold to the competitors who may use it to weaken the strengths of the business in the market. Hackers also contribute highly to the loss of income for the persons who conduct their business transactions over the internet. This is due to their capabilities to identify vulnerabilities and opportunities which enable them to intercept cash transactions involving money transfer. Some of these people do not necessarily hack for their own benefit but for the sake of satisfying their curiosity and as an adventure. An example is the case of a Carleton University student who broke into the university’s database, stole information on the students’ accounts and later posted it through mail to the administration just to prove that the university’s information system was not secure. Hacking itself is a crime and in Ottawa, it can attract a maximum of 10 years imprisonment. Just like hackers, crackers are persons who intentionally breach the security of a computer network by bypassing passwords and other security codes primarily for financial gain (Casey 2004). Their difference with hackers is that, hackers do not necessarily have the intentions of making profit but instead, their main interest is to prove something or to try out new technologies but through illegal means. Internet Fraud This is a crime that is accomplished through the use of the various components of the internet to shortchange A crime in which the criminal develops a strategy using one the elements of the Internet to deny a person of his legally owned property or interest through personification or use of false information to mislead the victim into surrendering his/her hold onto such property (Wells 2008). This has been enhanced by the large number of businesses which have embraced technology which allows for online transactions. This mode of doing business makes the victims vulnerable to the crime in that personal details for example credit card numbers and bank account details are transmitted through the internet without taking necessary precautions e.g. encryption which is the process of encoding data in a language that can only be understood by the sender and the receiver. These details can also be acquired through phishing. This is a tactic used by criminals to trick internet users into giving their personal information. They usually design a website which requests for passwords, email accounts and may be financial documents so as to register with their ‘organization’ after which the user would be intended to benefit from various products offered by the business. In the real sense, what these people do is that they design the websites to look exactly like that of a genuine company so as to attract unsuspecting internet users. They most of the times use genuine company logos on their websites so as to trick the users into believing that they are conducting genuine businesses. It is therefore difficult for the user to differentiate the websites from the genuine ones (Katherine et al 2008). After they acquire the details, they use them to commit fraud against the unfortunate victims by withdrawing money from their accounts or buying expensive assets without authorization from the owner. To avoid this from happening, internet users should ensure that they refrain from filling or signing up with websites that they have not confirmed to be genuine through conducting a comprehensive research on their integrity. In other words, they should realize that their identity is a valuable asset which should be protected at all cost. Internet fraud can also occur through non delivery of merchandise. This is a situation whereby an online customer buys items from dealers only to realize later that they have been conned. This is a crime that according to the internet crime complaint center (IC3) accounts for 19% of all the crimes reported regarding internet usage. It is the duty of the customer to protect him self against such cases by ensuring that he buys products from reliable sources. The customer should also take time to know the business’ physical location so as to enable him forward his complaints whenever there is a problem in the delivery of goods and services (Parks 2008). It would also enable the customer to substantiate the guarantees and warranties which may be given. If it is not possible to identify the physical address may be due to the geographical distance especially those buying from international companies not within their home countries, verification of the addresses provided i.e. emails, postal addresses etc should be done and if such information is concealed, it would be necessary to refrain from transacting with such businesses. Cyber Terrorism Cyber terrorism is a crime that involves intimidation of the targeted victims e.g. the government, through the internet so as to satisfy personal interests which may involve politics. It can also be directed to other large networks such that the attack would destroy information and data stored in them. Politically driven cyber terrorism may involve circulation of propaganda aimed at hurting the career and integrity of the victim so as to gain political advantage over him. These attacks according to FBI are usually organized with the help of foreign intelligence services and cyber terrorists who are capable of identifying loopholes in information systems. Some common types of cyber terrorism includes intentional hacking aimed at a particular individual, black mailing, circulating information that is intended to cause fear among citizens, circulating scandals against certain individuals so as to ruin their integrity etc (Alexander 2004). The perpetrators also design computer viruses which they use to infect a victim’s computer files and also spread the virus through emails which they send to unsuspecting victims which when opened, the viruses copy themselves to the computer, destroying files and eventually the whole system. Spam This is an activity that involves sending of emails to recipients against their will. This causes disturbance and irritation to the recipients who receive bulky emails which they are not interested in. It is supposed that approximately 80% of all emails received are as a result of spam (Casey 2004). The spammers use their intelligence to acquire email addresses from chat rooms, through phishing, from news groups etc, which they use to send identical emails may be consisting business advertisements, unnecessary quotations which the user may not be interested in etc. To counter this, email filtering should be done. This is a technique that helps to identify suspicious mails based on their contents. Various governments have legislated various acts e.g. electronic commerce protection act in Canada in order to fight spam. Pornography As the technology evolves from the print media to the electronic media, cases of pornography have increased at a considerable pace. The perpetrators moved their business from the print media since they are easy to be tracked by the security agents, to the more vibrant market offered by the internet sites. It is through this that these materials can now be accessed even by underage children who make use of the readily available computers either at home or in cyber cafes (Quayle 2005). This has grown much concern to the authorities and attracted much criticism from the church. The great danger is that the culprits know that it is very hard to trace the sources of these materials so they continue to operate without fear. The countries leading in the production of these materials include Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. As this continues to escalate, the question on morality issue continues to gain significant concerns and as such proper strategies by professionals should be undertaken to contain the threat which if unchecked can ruin the future of most of the younger generation which is taking much of their time in reading and watching pornographic materials on the internet instead of concentrating on educative materials. Harassment Harassment through internet occurs when a malicious person or groups post derogatory comments meant to undermine a certain gender, race, religion, nationality etc. these comments may be nonspecific but their impact can cause public out cry and can also attract criticism. These crimes are commonly achieved through various platforms that include and not limited to chat rooms, hate emails and news groups (Bocij2009). These may be aimed at spreading materials which could be containing racist, blasphemous or seditious information which could cause instability in the targeted institutions or personalities. Harassment, which can also be termed as cyber stalking can be more irritating and worrisome in that virtually, it is difficult to estimate the seriousness of the threats which may be made against a victim since the distance within which such activity is done cannot be estimated. The ability of the internet to conceal the identity of such criminals by enabling them to send anonymous messages is also a factor that contributes to the rising cases of cyber stalking. This makes it even more difficult for the authorities to identify and track the offenders. The cyber stalker could be someone within the same locality as the victim hence it would be dangerous to underestimate such threats (Bocij 2009). It is the role of the government security agencies and justice systems to ensure that such cases are thoroughly investigated and the culprits apprehended so as to prevent the damage that can be as a result of such crimes. However, before the intervention of the authorities, internet users are supposed to undertake safety precautions to protect themselves from cyber stalking and harassment. This can be achieved by for example refraining from providing personal information e.g. phone numbers, email addresses, residential addresses etc on the internet space so as to prevent possible direct attacks by the stalkers (Bocij2009). Instead, screen names should be chosen in a manner that does not disclose identity. Friendships that may result from online activities such as chatting should also be approached with a lot of caution and if they develop to a point that calls for actual meeting, the meeting should be conducted at a place that is close to public so as to ensure that there is security in case it does not turn out as expected. The users should also make a point of logging off from hostile internet sites so as to protect them selves from harm that may result from such hostility. The cases should also be reported to the authorities soonest possible so that prompt assistance can be given. Internet Gambling In most countries for example US, gambling is a well organized business that earns a lot of revenue close to $10 billion on annual bases. Many citizens have also been earning their livelihood from the gambling business through employment. Those wishing to start the businesses are licensed and provided with legal guidelines that outline the extent in which they are supposed to operate after which they are supposed to pay taxes to the government thus promoting economic growth . However, internet gambling has compromised the business input on the economy since most of those practicing it fail to abide by the set rules governing the trade. This is due to the fact that the business has a virtual nature and has no physical premises which can help the authorities can monitor and regulate the business (Kennedy 2005). The only asset required to conduct the business is a computer which is connected to the internet. This business also does not offer employment to citizens and it has also promoted money laundering which is a crime punishable by law. Conclusion Internet technology has had both positive and negative impacts on the lives of the users. On the positive side, it has enhanced the mode of doing business by facilitating ecommerce through for example online shopping. This is a process through which a customer or a supplier is capable of buying and selling their products through the internet whereby payment and cataloging is done online. Advertisement in large companies and small enterprises has also gone global with the help of the internet. As such, it is possible to reach the extensive market offered by the wide range of customers who visit various websites in search of commodities to buy. This has earned the businesses huge profit margins and also it has enhanced competition since it is easy to compare the business performance with others. Communication has also been made easier since it is now possible to communicate with friends and business partners through chat ting, video conferencing, emails etc. However, the same technology used to enhance these activities has also attracted various crimes which include internet fraud, cyber stalking, internet gambling, pornography, hacking etc which has compromised the security and integrity of the internet. As internet usage continues to gain popularity in the social and business environments, it is necessary for the governments through their security agents and experts to take necessary actions to protect internet users from the menace. References Alexander Y. (2004). Cyber Terrorism and Information Warfare: Threats and Responses, Transnational, pp 78-90 Bocij P. (2009). Victims of Cyber Stalking: An Exploratory Study of Harassment Perpetrated Via Internet, Retrieved October 9, 2009 From Casey E. (2004). Digital Evidence and Computer Crime, Second Edition, Academic Press, Pp 400-419 Jones A. (2005). Risk Management for Computer Security, Butter worth Heineman, pp 50-75 Katherine J., D'Amato J., Sheridon P. (2008). Credit Card Fraud: Awareness and Prevention, Journal of Financial Crime, 15(4), 398-410 Kennedy A. (2005). Dead Fish across the Trail: Illustrations of Money Laundering Methods, Journal of Money Laundering Control, 8(4), 305-319. Parks P. (2008) Computer Hacking (Crime Scene Investigations), Lucent Books, Pp 50-75 Salifu A (2008). The Impact of Internet Crime on Development, Journal of Financial Crime, 15(4), 432-443 Wells J. (2008). Principles of Fraud Examination, Wiley, Pp 100-127 Quayle E. (2005). Child Pornography: An Internet Crime, Routledge, Pp 100-115 Read More