Cyber Terrorism
In 1999, Chinese hackers targeted United States government sites, after an accidental bombing of a Chinese embassy in Belgrade. During this attack, government sites were hijacked and some sites suffered a denial of service attack. Most recently, it was suspected that Bank of America was the victim of a cyber terrorism attack; although no definitive evidence is available to substantiate that claim. Cyber terror attacks pose a threat against the national security of the United States. In order to fully comprehend the threat that cyber terrorism poses, it is essential to understand the background, the effects, the reality of the threat and the future of cyber terrorism. This assessment examines the reality of the cyber terrorism threat, and also questions its validity.
The roots of cyber terrorism can be traced back to the early 1990s when the Internet began to emerge. The introduction of the “information society” sparked many studies which focused on the potential risks faced by the highly networked and the high-tech-dependant, United States. Initially the concerns were of a cyber attack, an attack which could result in denial of service, system malfunction or unauthorized intrusion. Such an attack could be the result of a domestic hacker or an employee upset with working conditions. Now, the threat of a cyber attack is much more prevalent and the damage could be on a much larger scale and could manifest in the form of cyber terrorism. The threat of cyber terrorism has grabbed national attention, either by the media, the information technology (IT) industry, journalists, politicians or experts elsewhere.
The growing reliance the United States has on information technology has created a new form of vulnerability, which allows terrorists indirect access to approach systems which would otherwise be completely inaccessible. The threat to the public and the government lies in the fact that cyber terrorists possess the ability to shut down major systems which the
The roots of cyber terrorism can be traced back to the early 1990s when the Internet began to emerge. The introduction of the “information society” sparked many studies which focused on the potential risks faced by the highly networked and the high-tech-dependant, United States. Initially the concerns were of a cyber attack, an attack which could result in denial of service, system malfunction or unauthorized intrusion. Such an attack could be the result of a domestic hacker or an employee upset with working conditions. Now, the threat of a cyber attack is much more prevalent and the damage could be on a much larger scale and could manifest in the form of cyber terrorism. The threat of cyber terrorism has grabbed national attention, either by the media, the information technology (IT) industry, journalists, politicians or experts elsewhere.
The growing reliance the United States has on information technology has created a new form of vulnerability, which allows terrorists indirect access to approach systems which would otherwise be completely inaccessible. The threat to the public and the government lies in the fact that cyber terrorists possess the ability to shut down major systems which the
Cited: Kosovo cyber war intensifies: Chinese hackers targeting U.S. sites. CNN. www.cnn.com/TECH/computing/9905/12/cyberwar.idg/. 1999 May 12. Cyberterrorism: How real is the threat?