BHS 411 – Issues of Terrorism Mod 4 SLP - Essay Example

Module 4 - SLP Assignment Cyberattack: Mitigation and Risk Reduction Cyberattack: Mitigation and Risk Reduction Terrorists found a new wayof launching their activities. It is called cyberattack or cyber terrorism, in which the primary tools are computers and the Internet, and the new battleground is called the cyber space. The CRS Report for Congress (2007) revealed that the United States of America is the most highly targeted nation for computer attacks, mostly on its critical structures such as government, financial services, manufacturing, and power (p. 6). This new trend of launching terrorist activities is advantageous for the terrorists since federal law enforcement agencies are having hard times in detecting cyber crimes committed by terrorists than that of the ordinary cyber criminals.

Given the chance to be a cyber terrorist with a mission to launch a cyberattack against a US government agency, I will launch a cyberattack against the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) which is the lead agency of providing intelligence and investigation reports to other government agencies of impending terrorist activities. According to White (2006), the FBI is loosely linked to all America's law enforcement agencies (p. 4). However, many federal law enforcement agencies and local police executives openly resent or do not trust the FBI (White, 2006, p. 4). Most of all, "there is no system to sift, sanitize, and disseminate information to local law enforcement" (White, 2006, p. 4). These are very good points why the FBI is a vulnerable subject to cyber attacks.

To launch the attack, I will first design a web log where people who have "bad encounters" or negative criticisms with the FBI can post their blogs. This will be a sort of "character assassination" that can stir emotions against the FBI, and perhaps, loose confidence to this agency. The end result will be a weaker coordination by the American people in providing information for the FBI, thus, will make it so much difficult for the agents to gather evidences and information on terrorist activities.

I will also devise a spy ware program that can be used to access confidential matters of the FBI. Any information gathered will be posted on the blog site and could help other terrorist groups in launching their own attacks. In addition, I will create a program that will target Internet routers which will have the capability to capture information sent by the FBI to other law enforcement agencies, particularly the local police. For a short period of time, that information can be changed before it reaches its target, thus, will create confusion as to its implementation or on its objectives and will further amplify resentment of local law enforcement agencies to the FBI.

The over-all objective of this cyber attack is to amplify the resentment of the American people and majority of the federal and local law enforcement to the FBI. Thus, if a state like USA lacks coordination by its people and other law enforcement agencies to this lead agency against cyber terrorism, it will be an easy prey of cyber attacks.In the other hand, if I were the Director of the FBI and had received a warning of this kind of cyber attack against the organization, I will immediately place the operation of the FBI under a heightened alert so that the work force will be aware of this impending terrorist act.

I will organize a team that will attend to the problem particularly in identifying who is the group doing the attack, their location, purpose, the manner to which this attack will be made, and its impact to the target. Most likely, we will also identify the possible signs that the attack has been started. We will also formulate plans, guidelines or Standard Operating Procedures in handling the situation so as not to aggravate it.One of the keys in surviving this attack is advanced defensive planning, that is to know the particulars of the problem before it strikes.

In order for the plan to be successful, team effort is required. Each member of the team must have a specific task to perform. The staff must be taught how to do the task. As the leading agency against terrorism in the United States of America, the FBI's "success" in mitigating, if not preventing, cyber attacks in its own compound could serve as deterrence to would-be cyber terrorist and could restore the working relationship marred by controversies with other federal and local law enforcement agencies.

ReferencesWhite, J. (2006). Bureaucracy Problems. Defending the Homeland: Domestic Intelligence, Law Enforcement, and Security, (p. 4). Wadsworth.Rollins, J., Wilson, Clay (2007). Terrorist Capabilities for Cyberattack: Overview and Policy Issues, CRS Report for Congress, Updated January 22, 2007, Retrieved on December 6, 2008 at http:www.fas.org/sgp/crs/terror/RL33123.pdf