Social Networks Link Terrorists - Essay Example

The war on terrorism has been on for a long time without success. The US government has been in the forefront trying to suppress terrorist gangs such as Al Qaeda as well as helping other countries to stem out the enigma from the society. This essay will show that no matter how hard this is done, this war cannot succeed; it can only slow down the rate of attacks. Information technology has been identified as a major hindrance to this success due to its dynamic nature, which spices the events to seem like guerilla war. Several cases have been quoted such as the use of social networks, over reliance of technology to execute even the simplest processes of drug prescription in hospitals, as well as air flight control, which is one of the most fragile industries prone to terrorism, thereby exposing humans to terror. Introduction Information refers to the processed data which helps in decision making either in an organization or in the government. However, there are various characteristics which determine its viability and when they lack, the information cannot be said as having fulfilled its intended purpose. These are for example timeliness, accuracy, reliability, relevance among others (Laudon, 2003). With the rapid developments in information technology, it has become easy to achieve the desired results without necessarily having to strain hard to communicate decisions to various interested parties worldwide due to the fact that the world has been brought together digitally to form a single digital village. On the other hand, these developments have had their shortcomings as they have created a new platform for promoting criminal activities such as terrorism and other cyber crimes. This essay is a critical evaluation of information age terrorism and the possibility of not succeeding in the war against terrorism. War on Terrorism Developments in Information Technology have pushed the success of terrorist activities an extra mile. This is due to the fact that terrorists are now using the cyberspace as well as other digital media to conduct their criminal activities as opposed to the traditional methods which involved conducting physical meetings to strategize on possible targets as well as transporting weapons of mass destruction across borders, which were easy to track and confiscate (Uda 2006). For example, current technologies in the market make it possible for people to meet without travelling regardless of their locations through video conferencing. This requires members to have personal computers connected to the internet, which are also equipped with a camera, microphone and speakers. Once the members initialize a connection, each one of them receives images and voices of other partners on their screens and speakers thereby enabling them to converse (Schelkle, 2000). As a result, it becomes difficult for security agents to detect these plans in time to avert them. In the past, security forces were efficient in apprehending such criminals by tracking their movement with the help of immigration departments in the airports but with this technology, we can only conclude that it has become more challenging and almost impossible to wipe out terrorism in the society. Social network sites such as facebook, MySpace, twitter among others have also facilitated terrorists and other criminal gangs with an opportunity to expand their activities since they enhance connectivity and broadcasting of information. For example, facebook alone boasts of having approximately 200 million subscribers around the world, who could be a significant audience to hate campaigns against certain countries such as the US, Britain among others, which have in the past been major targets of terrorist attacks (Schelkle, 2000). This is made possible by the fact that not every one is sympathetic to these countries as the ideologies they stand for may be unacceptable to some of the users, who may be compelled to believe any information brought forward against them. In this perspective, it is possible to find terrorists recruiting new members from these social sites without the knowledge of the authorities, most which do not have sufficient mechanisms to control activities being conducted online. For example, a man named Aabid Khan, though he was arrested by the UK government in 2006, conducted online forums to recruit terrorists and to mount hate campaigns against those opposed to activities of the Al Qaeda (Montalbano, 2009). It was believed that he was planning to launch terrorist attacks on Washington and New York. Information on facebook user’s accounts has also been used by the terrorists in the past to determine those who are viable to join the terrorist organizations more so because, most of the users provide a lot of details concerning themselves such as former employment, personal relationship, religion, political views etc. An Israeli security force, Shin Bet, is on record for warning citizens against providing personal information on facebook or other online social networking sites. The reason for doing so was that Arab terrorists were using these details to lure innocent users especially those with a military record to accept meeting their agents, who in most cases use alias names to hide their true identity (Harel, 2009). Without knowing it, users accept such offers only to find themselves trapped into these criminal organizations. This confirms the fact that there are several other groups of such nature and many more will continue to emerge as long as there is a reason to attack, thereby implying that the government and its associates does not have time to relax as the war on terrorism can not be won, especially not in the near future. The information age has widened the scope of terrorism from physical attacks on populated cities using bombs and other weapons of mass destruction, to attacks on information systems or what is commonly known as cyber terrorism (Uda, 2006). With the world quickly becoming a digital village, and governments as well as the society at large relying on these systems to conduct their day to day activities, it has become more and more easier to launch attacks without necessarily having to risk ones life for example in the case of suicide bombers. However, most theorists have continued to insist that this form of crime does not fit to be classified as terrorism but opt to refer to it as hacking or information warfare. This is due to the fact that attacks of this nature do not necessarily cause physical harm but instead, creates fear among the victims (Carr, 2007). On the other hand, events displayed on the movie Hunt for Eagle One, Crash Point with Marc Darcascos playing the leading role for example gives us an insight into what might happen if terrorists gain access to technology that controls air flights (Santiago & Crum, 2006). In this movie, terrorists invade the control room of an airport and manage to steal a device that is capable of hacking into the communication channel between the pilots and the ground, which they use with the help of communication devices belonging to a private television network that they are able to seize (Santiago & Crum, 2006). From the station, the terrorists are also able to take full control of the air crafts by putting them under auto piloting without the knowledge of the pilots. After doing so, they become capable of crash landing the planes on identified crash points, most of which are highly populated cities in the US until their demands are met. From this perspective, it is possible for terrorists to cause physical harm from remote locations thereby the need to recognize cyber terrorism. In another controversial case, an Antarctic research station suffered an attack in May 2009, which compromised the safety of the scientists and other officials after the life support system was hacked (Poulsen, 2004). Apparently, those living in the Antarctica depend on the internet to link them to the outside world and the life support systems to keep them alive based on the fact that temperatures are harsh such that they sometimes range from 65 to 70 degrees below zero Fahrenheit. It is said that air crafts during this period cannot land there until November when temperatures are favorable (Poulsen, 2004). The computer which was hacked also controls the life support systems but the technicians were able to control the threat before any harm was done to the scientists. As we stand today, many more corporations and institutions have digitized most of their internal processes such as patient admission in hospitals as well as prescription of drugs. From this perspective, it is true to say that the fact that terrorist activities have continued to record a downward trend does not actually mean that the threat is over. The US government as well as other super powers has been able to champion for peace among warring nations and communities around the world and to some extent, it has provided quantifiable results. However, overdependence on information technology is itself a reason why every person should stay alarmed as no one knows when and where the next attack may be directed, it may even be that hospital you frequent, which prescribes your medicine digitally. You may visit one day without realizing that the systems have been hacked only to receive wrong drugs for your treatment. For example, the Northwest hospital in Seattle suffered an attack on its information systems, which shut down computers in the intensive care unit, paralyzed the operations of the hospital as the doors remained closed and would not open and which also made doctor’s pagers fail to function (Rios, 2008) Conclusion The war on terrorism has prevailed for a long time without success and will not succeed in the near future. This is due to the fact that terrorism has come to be like the proverbial door which says that if one door closes another one opens. In the past, security agents have been facing physical threats from attacks such as suicide bombing, explosions from bombs placed at strategic points but these methods have been proving futile for the terrorists as in most cases they are detected before harm is done. Even though these mode of attacks are still common, terrorist have changed tactics, thanks to developments in information technology. They are now using information on the internet for example social networks such as facebook and MySpace to recruit new members and disseminating hate speech against their enemies to justify their course. Most of the authorities do not keep close tabs on these sites and only realize it when it is too late to take action. With the world becoming more digital each and every day and citizens receiving the developments as a blessing, terrorists on the other hand are embracing this as an avenue to launch attacks without necessarily risking their own lives. Videoconferencing for example has reduced the chances of arresting them on transit. With access to a computer, a terrorist can hack into any network be it communication, information systems for hospitals or possibly aircrafts as long as he has the skills and a purpose to cause harm to innocent citizens. Information technology is dynamic meaning that new products come into the market frequently. As such, terrorists will continue to utilize these features as long as they are accessible, leaving our security agents dragging behind, waiting for terrorists to turn up so they can shoot or arrest them. References Carr, J. (2007) Inside Cyber Warfare: Mapping the Cyber Underworld, St. Martin's Press Harel, A. (2009). Shin Bet: Terrorists on Facebook trying to recruit Israeli spies, Retrieved 15 April 2010 From Laudon, K. (2003) Management Information Systems, Prentice Hall Montalbano, E. (2009) Social Networks Link Terrorists, Retrieved 30 September 2010, from Poulsen, K. (2004) South Pole 'cyber terrorist' Hack wasn't the First, Retrieved September 30, 2010, Rios, B. (2008) Hacking: The Next Generation, O'Reilly Media Santiago, C. (Producer), Crum, H. (Director) (2006). The Hunt for Eagle One: Crash Point, [Motion Picture]. United States: Sony Pictures Schelkle, W. (2000). Paradigms of Social Change: Modernization, Development, Transformation, Evolution, St. Martin's Press. Uda, R. (2006) Cybercrime, Cyber terrorism, and Cyber warfare, Xlibris Corporation Read More