Cyber Terrorism Attacks - Essay Example

Cyber Terrorism Introduction Computers have influenced the modern society in diverse ways. However, the threat of this modeof communication is at large, citing to the emergence of computer terrorism. Mainly, the newly born type of terrorism seeks to harm the social media through the development of malware that leads to the destruction of information in personal and organizational computers connected to the internet. Ideally, cyber terrorism indicates the ill practices of cybercrimes whereby the terrorists engage physically in activities that aim at vandalizing computers and the information contained therein. Secondly, researchers indicate that the vice includes activities concerned with cyber war, which is centered on the deliberate destruction of information in computers with the aim of causing a situation of instability within the global social media community (Burke & Cooper, 2008). Further, cyber war is an inclusion to cyber terrorism since it involves the activities of terrorism organizations prying rival governments’ information and destroying it to bar them from achieving profound goals in anti-terrorism activities. The following discussion establishes narrow and broad descriptions of cyber terrorism. Further, the discussion establishes profound researches and analyses to intensify and reveal cyber terrorism activities with the assertion of a relevant matrix. Research Narrow definition Scholars concerned with the emergence of cyber terrorism in the global society assert that the vice is relative to actual terrorism since it includes the destruction of properties and information. Basically, researchers indicate that this type of attack threatens properties as well as people‘s lives citing on the fact that computers are used as lifesavers in hospitals’ intensive care units (Weil, 2013). Acknowledgements to the fact indicate that whenever terrorists tamper with computers in intensive care units, there are high chances of loss of lives since health practitioners will be unable to monitor their patients profusely. Similarly, arguments assert that cyber terrorism is a detrimental factor to societal wellbeing since its practices introduce unnecessary harm to the media, thus hindering the effective flow of information. It is knowledgeable that the vice can influence infrastructures negatively to the extent that they will fail to deliver the required services to the human society (Harress, 2014). At such a point, cyber terrorism will be exposing the society to unnecessary dangers bearing in mind that the criminals target those services whose course and nature is to promote social well being in multiple dimensions. Broad definition The Technolytics Institute cites abundant information that serves as an incremental and profound basis for describing cyber terrorism. Specifically, the institute’s researchers indicate cyber terrorism as a vice related to the deliberate resolution of exerting disruptive activities into computers and networks. Based on such a resolution, identifications assert that the threats aim at damaging computer systems connected to the internet and other vital telecommunications infrastructures. Specifically, it seems that the criminals base their ill operations to destruct the ideal successes of ideologies who ultimate goals are to ensure the decline of terrorism in the modern global society (Weil, 2013). For instance, organizations affiliated to America and UK whose main purposes is create global awareness on the detrimental factors that the elusive and yet profuse operations of terrorism expose to the society are vulnerable to cyber terrorism. Secondly, there are fears that the global society is vulnerable to cyber terrorism at the extent that many religions including a section of the Islamic community oppose the existence of terrorism as a resolution to ensuring the inclusion of sharia law in every society. It is knowledgeable that the world’s terror attacks are in most cases related to the Al-Qaida organization that argues upon its operations as incremental to the will of God or Allah. Therefore, cyber terrorism exposes religions as well as the political society to adverse dangers as it bars success in distributing abundant information to the desired recipients. Further, the vice bars the political structure from achieving its anti-terror objectives. According to Barry Collin, a researcher affiliated the Technolytics Institute and the National Conference of State Legislatures, cyberspace terror attacks seeks to insert information based technologies with detrimental agendas of attacking networks and computer systems as well as telecommunications. The terrorism matrix The matrix seeks to categorize the various types of cyber terrorism practices existing in the global community. Perceptions are that the normative approach is a solution to institutions’ search for a long-lasting resolution to curb the menace and threat of cyber-terrorism. Simple-unstructured In this context, researchers identify that terror in cyberspace exists whenever individuals engage in the development and execution of software to systems with the objective of causing adverse damages. Mainly, this matrix elaborates on cyber terror as the exertion of malware utilities to personal or institution’s computers with the knowledge that such activities will lead to the destruction of information contained in those systems (Burke & Cooper, 2008). According to informative surveys, simple-structured matrix of cyber terrorism practices exists whenever an individual hacker adapts an already existing malware developed by a different party with the obligation of destructing people’s information and telecommunication networks within a specific range opting to bar the victims from succeeding in their individual courses. The simple-structured organization of hackers identifies the aims at the pervasive destruction of individual properties related to computerized information. For example, an individual may opt to transmit a virus to another person’s computer with the main obligation of destroying the machines’ workability. Contextually, the organization of simple-structured hackers centers its obligations on defining target analysis in order to execute centralized plans and objectives on defined properties. Ideally, the vice is detrimental since it declares threats to target computer properties without the owners’ knowledge (Harress, 2014). Advanced-structured approach Another sophisticated approach This phenomenon is descriptive of hackers’ capabilities to engage on information technology practices that eventually enable them to achieve essential objectives in executing harmful obligations into multiple computer systems (Gordon, 2014). The vice further threatens telecommunication systems whose main purposes in the environment is to monitor and ensure the transmission of information amongst users of information in the society. Arguably, research indicates that this structural approach in cyber terrorism prevails amidst the existence of elementary target analysis and other tools, which further influence their processes in command and control of the target systems (Nasr, 2007). Research indicates that advanced-structured systems of cyber terrorism impose adverse influences to learning capabilities holding on the fact that the malware approach tampers with the ideal information of the victimized systems. Complex-coordinated approaches These are the most heinous practices ever developed by cyber terrorists holding on the knowledge that they cause mass disruptions on systems. These harms extend to cause massive disruptions on integrated systems. Researchers argue upon this cyber-terror practice as adverse to heterogeneous defenses. Contextually, the ill approach is capable of destroying systems based on the argument that such hackers have the ability to monitor the strengths and weaknesses, and in turn, develop a malware system that will eventually cause the intended damages (Weil, 2013). Ideally, the sophisticated cyber terrorism practice is unprecedented since its harms extend to all types of defenses. Therefore, every government in the global society rests vulnerable to the terror approach and the notion is that organizations should monitor their systems and ensure continued security systems to deter the possible existence of the malware practice. Research indicates that 90% of cyber terrorists target major organizations and governments. The essential cause of action that these groups of hackers seek to decipher in the society is based on their ability to monitor sophisticated systems and execute detrimental operations to halt their abundance in delivering their ultimate goals (Dyson, 2012). Statistics indicate a 9.9% figure as comprehensive of hackers whose main existence in the society is to contract people with the obligations of hacking and destroying their opponents’ systems. Concerns and history Since the use and access to internet is pervasive in all people activities, terrorist groups are now able to use cyberspace to attack and threaten individuals, communities, specific groups, and a whole country, without any means of attacking these groups since they do not present themselves physically. Most groups like anonymous use online tools like Denial-of-service attack mainly to threaten citizens who go against them, creating various concerns for people’s freedom (Burke & Cooper, 2008). Due to the potential expansion of internet usage, and computers being assigned many responsibilities and becoming extremely complex as well as independent, terrorist groups, use this opportunity to continue threatening people around the world. Internet dependence is rapidly increasing at a higher rate, hence creating a room for international terrorist groups to formulate and execute threats to countries more easily (Nasr, 2007). For the terrorist groups, cyber attacks are more advantageous than physical attacks. This is because cyber-based terrorist attacks can be conducted remotely allowing the terrorist not to present themselves physically to their target groups. Additionally, cyber-based attacks can be conducted anonymously, less costly, and do not need costly investment of explosives, weapons, and personnel. Terrorist finds it more advantageous to use cyber-based attacks since they do not risk their lives to death (Dyson, 2012). These attacks can be spread easily and at a faster rate and are profound. Researches indicate that the activities of cyber terrorist may increase due to increased usage of computer internet around the world. Studies also indicate that appeal of digital attacks is also similar to those of physical attacks. Cyber terrorism is not a current issue because it has been in existence for over one and a half decade now researchers find it a task hard to define. People describe cyber terrorism acts, at a religious and criminal perspective, strategy, and tactic, or through a recommended oppression’s reaction and an unforgivable abomination. Cyber terrorism has been a negative effect as an approach to the weak sides involved in a conflict. This is a reason as to why many countries consider preemption as an essential thing to curb the vice. In most cases, cyber terrorism rests as a means of carrying on technology-based conflicts without considering the heinous threats they cause to nature and the global community, hence misusing it for criminal offences. The acts and threats of cyber terrorism seem to have been taking place for many years. Despite the long history, governments and other interested groups contesting for their rights and power still embark on cyber terrorism approaches and the use such acts remains less understood to many people. For many years, the flexibility and adaptability of cyber terrorism seems to be resulting into confusion. The affected groups seem to be looking forward to reorder, destroy, or disrupt the status quo of country’s that are currently working hard to ensure an established and more creative use of current technologies to attain their goals (Weil, 2013). The advancement in techniques and tactics used by cyber terrorism groups seem to have been momentous, however, more significance is perceived in the increment in the number of societal contexts in these countries where cyber terrorism is an imminent course. For the last two decades, cyber terrorisms have been taking place in many countries and the main reason, which influence such acts being religious or political inconveniences. Cyber terrorism remains to be a major threat to many countries in the global society, an act that affects many every person in the society (Burke & Cooper, 2008). People from different countries witness the occurrence of cyber terrorism and experience the harms it can pose to their information and lives. Essentially, understanding the main causes of cyber terrorism is the ideal order to find salient ways of preventing such harms from taking place in our society (Dyson, 2012). Religious beliefs about information stand out to be the major causes of cyber terrorism in our countries. These are the information-based religious beliefs that people use to formulate the ideologies centered on how the religious ones should be. Mainly, cyber terrorists affiliated to terrorism organizations’ purport that as religious terrorism groups, their aim is to fight any opposition that seems to be against their course (Burke & Cooper, 2008). An individual’s vision can completely transform a whole religion. The leader of any religious cyber terrorism group deserves to be known to the global society despite the much respect and defense he is acquainted. One of the main factors that the cyber terrorism groups affiliated to certain leaders should evaluate and consider is the importance of a society that is unified rather than one with different goals and objectives. Secondly, racism and ethnicity are the main causes of cyber terrorism in many countries. Racial and ethnic cyber terrorism takes place when another race, religious, or ethnic group hinders others’ cultural beliefs and practices. It seems that many cyber terrorism groups have historically been looking around their habitat countries and they have been realizing that there is presence of foreign cultural practices, things that they do not like (Dyson, 2012). These cyber terrorism groups worry because of the way foreign cultures are influential to the point that they erase and replace their own cultural practices and beliefs. For instance, most of the cyber terrorism groups in developing and developed nations cite that, tourists from the United Stated aim at bringing changes to their ethnicity (Burke & Cooper, 2008). These cyber terrorism groups term the tourists’ and other foreign social media activities as violations to their cultures and as a result, this leads to occurrence of cyber terrorism attacks to the countries bringing such changes. International responses Since most of the cyber terrorism groups employ hacking approach as a means of attacking their enemies’ systems, governments such as the U.S and UK have intensified their military operation (Dyson, 2012). Unfortunately, cyber war is among the difficult acts that a terror groups can use, although cyber terrorism succeeds in hacking, the U.S military is devising anti-terror software and such events yield successful outcomes since the terror groups are incapable of executing their obligations. Arguably, the U.S, Estonia, and NATO play hostages taking unlikely chances to identify the cyber terrorists’ hideouts before engaging confrontations with them. This forces the hackers to make immediate decisions that comply with the anti-terrorism requirements (Burke & Cooper, 2008). These planned attacks draw the attention of the public and media groups of the global society. The cyber terrorists’ main target and intention is the impacts they impose to the affected audience and not the hostages. Cyber terrorism groups mostly use information technology devices that are less costly compared to other devices and these creates ease for the concerned government to monitor and condone the prescribed obligations before their execution (Nasr, 2007). Through the U.S.A, Estonia, and NATO involvements, cyber warfare seems to be reducing and the threat of fire bombings and arson devices diminishing drastically. The operations have identified the main cyber terror groups that are richly organized, well equipped, and even those with trained hackers to the level of being major cyber terror groups and organizations. This resolution has essentially deterred other terrorism acts from taking place under the terrorism groups’ frameworks. Conclusion Cyber terrorism attacks seem to pose severe threats to information systems and human lives hence bringing threats to both social and economic status of countries. United States’ and other governments must find means of terminating such cyber terror acts since they are responsible for ensuring maximum security to all citizens within the nation. Significantly, overestimating the social and economic influences caused by cyber terrorists encourages them to continue with their mission (Burke & Cooper, 2008). Such practices are even more dangerous than underestimating the impacts caused by cyber terrorism. References Burke, R. J., & Cooper, C. L. (2008). International terrorism and threats to security: Managerial and organizational challenges. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar. Dyson, W. E. (2012). Terrorism: An investigators handbook. Cincinnati, Ohio: Anderson. Gordon, S, (2014). Cyberterrorism? Symantec. Retrieved February 2nd, 2014 from:https://www.symantec.com/avcenter/reference/cyberterrorism.pdf Harress, C. (2014). Obama Says Cyberterrorism Is Countrys Biggest Threat, U.S. Government Assembles "Cyber Warriors". IbTimes. Retrieved February 2nd, 2014 from: http://www.ibtimes.com/obama-says-cyberterrorism-countrys-biggest-threat-us-government-assembles-cyber-warriors-1556337 Nasr, K. B. (2007). Arab and Israeli terrorism: The causes and effects of political violence, 1936-1993. Jefferson, N.C: McFarland & Co. Weil, A. (2013). Terrorism. Costa Mesa, Calif.: Saddleback Educational Pub. Read More