Cyberterrorism: Vulnerable Targets, Mechanisms, and Countermeasures

This essay provides a comprehensive overview of cyberterrorism, detailing vulnerable targets such as the real estate, transport, and retail sectors. It explores various mechanisms employed by cyberterrorists, including web defacement, malware, data mining, and denial-of-service attacks. The essay identifies different cyberterrorist groups, such as single-issue, ideological, nationalist, and religio-political groups, highlighting their motivations and potential targets. Furthermore, it discusses protective measures, including legislative and technological approaches, such as stricter laws, international cooperation, and the application of advanced security technologies like blockchain and advanced cryptography to mitigate cyber threats and prevent attacks. The essay emphasizes the need for proactive strategies to address the growing threat of cyberterrorism.

Cyberterrorism
Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................2
Vulnerable Targets for Cyber Terrorists....................................................................................2
Mechanisms to Target.......................................................................................................................2
Cyberterrorist Groups.................................................................................................................4
Protection...................................................................................................................................5
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................6
References..................................................................................................................................6
1

Cyberterrorism
Introduction
Cyberterrorism is the utilization of the Internet by the malicious activities to carry out violent
attacks and threats which may result in the threatening of the user or damage/loss of life as
the extreme consequences. The cyberterrorist attacks are carried out in order to achieve
political or ideological gains. The occurrence of cyberterrorist attacks has increased in the
past few years. The essay covers the vulnerable targets for cyber terrorists and lists out the
terrorist groups that are likely to exploit the vulnerabilities (Kapucu, 2012). The measures to
harden these targets against the cyber terrorists are also covered.
Vulnerable Targets for Cyber Terrorists
There are numerous targets that are exposed to the cyber terrorism and the determination of
these vulnerable targets is done on the basis of the impact that may be caused. The real estate
and property sector is the primary target due to the excessive monetary gains that result from
the successful occurrence. The transport sector is the next in the list followed by the retail
industry. The aerospace and the aviation industry come next with the power & energy,
healthcare, and construction next in the line.
Mechanisms to Target
There are different mechanisms that are adopted to carry out the cyberterrorist attacks. One
such way is web defacement in which the target is repeatedly annoyed. The terrorist groups
modify the information present on the official site. The web domain used will appear as a
legitimate domain. There are small gains that are achieved with the simple alteration of the
website domain (Tzezana, 2016). There are scenarios wherein the website of the national
political party of the country is hacked and the attackers ask the people to leave a particular
city due to a natural disaster or chemical leak. If the adequate media coverage is provided to
the issue, then there may be certain causalities that may emerge. Also, there is significant
damage done to the national security and financial losses are also experienced. The chances
of success of such an attack are however low as the TV network may not report such an issue
without cross verifying the same. However, in the present times, the media houses are
carrying out the rat race to succeed over the others. The leakage of such a report in the public
can surely create certain level of unrest. With the emergence of the social media channels, the
new can spread in seconds and the cyber terrorists may be successful in achieving their aims.
2

Cyberterrorism
The defacements of the websites are popular in the present times; however, if the attackers
succeed in capturing the web server, they will have access to the data available on the same.
It will include the confidential information on the site along with the access details. The
usernames and the passwords may also be exploited. The disclosure of information can have
significant negative impacts for the users as well as all the parties involved.
Malware is another common mechanism that is used by the cyber terrorists to carry out the
cyberterrorist attacks. The use of viruses, ransomware, and other forms of malware is done to
target the probable victims. The malfunctioning in a specific system or unavailability of the
services may be achieved. These usually result in significant loss of data and information
sets.
Data Mining is another appealing mechanism that is utilized by the cyberterrorists to
compromise the security and privacy of the information. In the present times, the use of
digital forms of information has become mandatory for every sector (Yao & Liu, 2011). The
personal details of the users along with the financial information or health information are
present in the form of electronic files. In order to promote the accessibility to the information,
the information is stored on the networked platforms. The cyberterrorists access these data
sets and obtain the significant information which can be used for some of the severe crimes,
such as assassination or kidnapping. There are certain details that may be obtained and these
may be used to blackmail a particular person. The cyberterrorists can also target the banking
institutions and financial organizations to acquire huge amounts of money utilizing the cyber
information. The organization assets can also be damaged on the basis of the information sets
that are acquired. One such case was reported in the United Kingdom wherein the
membership list for the British Nationalist Party was published and made accessible on the
web and the privacy of the members was put at stake. The schedule of the politicians or
primary targets can also be assessed on the basis of the information. The terrorist groups can
plan their activities as per the schedule obtained.
Internet has become a basic requirement for the people in the present times. If the Internet is
brought down, then it will cause significant damage to the people along with the
infrastructure and population. The functioning of the internet depends upon the bandwidth. In
the case of targeting the bandwidth, there are denial of service and distributed denial of
service attacks that can be given shape (Vlavo, 2015). These are easier to carry out. For
example, if there are numerous emails sent at the same time, then the bandwidth allotted to
3

Cyberterrorism
the particular network will get exhausted and the increased congestion will ultimately result
in the breakdown of the service. The use of botnets is another mechanism which can be done.
Botnets are the inter-connected devices and systems that are infected by a malware. The use
of master-slave relationship is usually done wherein the terrorist can direct all the bots from
the master computer and the systems can simultaneously place specific requests on one
channel. It is very easy to set up the botnets as a simple hacker can also carry out the attack.
In 2007, Estonia became a victim of a large-scale distributed denial of service attack. The
country primarily works on the basis of web operations and services. The shutting down of
the Internet has a significant impact and it was further combined with certain civil
disturbances associated with the moving of Soviet war memorial in Tallinn City Centre
(Veerasamy & Grobler, 2015).
Supervisory Control & Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems are the ones that monitor and
control numerous infrastructure systems and these are being relied upon excessively. These
provide the enhanced likelihood to carry out the cyberterrorist attacks. The outcomes can
have physical impacts as well. These systems are involved in the functioning of the power
plants along with the management of the traffic and transportation in a city. If the
cyberterrorist group succeeds in obtaining control of these systems, then the control of the
facility can be easily obtained. The internal employees of the organization can facilitate the
occurrence of these cyberterrorist activities. The terrorist organizations send their member to
the business firms that work as a regular employee and the transfer of the relevant
information is done by the employee from the SCADA systems. There are certain access
rights and permissions that are granted to the employee and the misuse of the same is done to
transfer the information sets. One such case was reported from Queensland in Australia. A
hacker got associated with the Maroochy Shire Council in Australia and has access to the
SCADA systems. The hacker then deliberately released millions of litres of raw sewerage in
the water system that led to the alerts and investigations were carried out. It was revealed that
the previous employee had conducted these attacks and the council did not change the
passwords which resulted in the occurrence of the attack. The motives behind the occurrence
of these attacks were personal; however, the similar approach can be utilized by the terrorists.
Cyberterrorist Groups
It is necessary to know the entities that perform these cyberterrorist activities. There are
numerous cyberterrorist groups that are present and these groups have varied size, ability, and
4

Cyberterrorism
warranty periods as well. These terrorist groups are formed on the basis of the motivation
level. The single-issue terrorists are the ones that work towards a specific cause and also
agree to use violence as the measure of putting an end to the issue. Also, the lethality rate is
low with such cyberterrorist groups; they have been able to find out the targets in the cyber
environment. The second category is of the ideological terrorists that come from far left or
right (Singh & Jain, 2018). They were majorly active during the cold war and can still be
seen in the present times. Nationalist terrorist groups are the most lethal and the most active
out of all the groups. They have been in to existence since past 40 years. These have the
motive of national interests and therefore, usually target the government agencies and
organizations. The fourth group is the religio-political group of cyberterrorists that are
significantly lethal and carry out the terrorist activities in the name of God. These are the
extremists and adopt the path of terrorism in the name of religion. There are certain political
groups across the world that also promotes these groups to fulfil their political interests.
Protection
There are some of the countermeasures that can be adopted to put a check on the
cyberterrorist activities.
One of the categories of these measures is legislative. The prevention of the activities can be
achieved only when the cyberterrorists and the malicious entities are made to believe that
there are measures defined and in place to deal with such situations. The stricter actions
against the terrorists and criminals with supported legal norms and policies can result in the
prevention of the cyberterrorist attacks. The development of the laws and the implementation
of the same will put a check on these occurrences (Shackelford, 2012).
It is required that a single international body is developed and made in charge of dealing with
the cyberterrorist activities and issues. The agency will exclusively fight cyberterrorism and
will slowly expand across the globe. It will result in the prevention and avoidance of the
cyberterrorist activities.
Technological measures are the most significant as the application of the technology shall be
done to deal with the cybersecurity attacks. It is required that effective partnerships between
the government firms and the private organizations need to be developed so that the
cyberterrorist activities are prevented. There are developments that are being done in the
technical security areas, such as Blockchain and advanced cryptography methods. The
5

Cyberterrorism
application of such technological controls shall be done so that the occurrence of the
cybersecurity attacks are prevented and dealt with.
Conclusion
The cyberterrorist assaults are done so as to accomplish political or ideological increases. The
event of cyberterrorist assaults has expanded in the previous couple of years. Malware is a
typical instrument that is utilized by the cyber terrorists to complete the cyberterrorist
assaults. The failing in a particular framework or inaccessibility of the administrations might
be accomplished. These normally bring about noteworthy loss of information and data sets.
Information Mining is another engaging system that is used by the cyberterrorists to bargain
the security and privacy of the data. The cyberterrorists get to the organized informational
indexes and get the critical data which can be utilized for a portion of the extreme
wrongdoings. Web has turned into a fundamental necessity for the individuals in the present
occasions. In the event that the Internet is cut down, at that point it will make critical harm
the individuals alongside the framework and populace. The working of the web relies on the
transfer speed. On account of focusing on the data transfer capacity, there are availability
attacks, such as flooding attack and denial of service assaults that can be given shape. The
counteractive action of the exercises can be accomplished just when the cyberterrorists and
the malevolent elements are made to accept that there is estimates characterized and set up to
arrangement with such circumstances. It is necessitated that a solitary universal body is
created and made accountable for managing the cyberterrorist exercises and issues.
Innovative measures are the most huge as the use of the innovation will be done to manage
the cybersecurity assaults.
6

Cyberterrorism
References
Kapucu, N. (2012). Review of Introduction to Homeland Security: Understanding Terrorism
with an Emergency Management Perspective. Journal Of Homeland Security And
Emergency Management, 5(1). doi: 10.2202/1547-7355.1514
Shackelford, S. (2012). Toward Cyber Peace: Managing Cyber Attacks Through Polycentric
Governance. SSRN Electronic Journal. doi: 10.2139/ssrn.2132526
Singh, A., & Jain, A. (2018). Study of Cyber Attacks on Cyber-Physical System. SSRN
Electronic Journal. doi: 10.2139/ssrn.3170288
Tzezana, R. (2016). Scenarios for crime and terrorist attacks using the internet of things.
European Journal Of Futures Research, 4(1). doi: 10.1007/s40309-016-0107-z
Veerasamy, N., & Grobler, M. (2015). Logic Tester for the Classification of Cyberterrorism
Attacks. International Journal Of Cyber Warfare And Terrorism, 5(1), 30-46. doi:
10.4018/ijcwt.2015010103
Vlavo, F. (2015). Framing digital activism: The spectre of cyberterrorism. First Monday,
20(10). doi: 10.5210/fm.v20i10.6139
Yao, D., & Liu, X. (2011). Research on the Cyber Terrorist Attacks and its Impacts on
Information Infrastructure Security. Advanced Materials Research, 268-270, 2108-
2115. doi: 10.4028/www.scientific.net/amr.268-270.2108
7