Cyberterrorism: Analyzing Threats, Technologies, and Real-World Impact

This essay delves into the multifaceted world of cyberterrorism, examining its increasing prevalence and complexity in today's interconnected society. It explores various problems associated with cyberattacks, including non-permitted intrusions, viruses, and denial of service attacks, while also highlighting the challenges faced by IT experts in understanding and combating cybercrime. The essay discusses technologies like biometrics and quantum cryptography as potential security measures, while also addressing the research question of whether cyber security can effectively curb or prevent cyberterrorism. It emphasizes the importance of cyber security in real life, particularly concerning the theft of private information, and examines both the advantages and disadvantages of various approaches. The conclusion underscores the critical role of the internet in security and economic growth, emphasizing the need for integrated technology and personal awareness to combat cybercrime. The essay references various sources, including academic journals and online publications.

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Running Head: CYBERTERRORISM
Cyber terrorism
Name
University

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CONTENTS
Introduction …………………………………….……………………………………..3
Problems……………………………………………………………………………….3
Challenges……………………………………………………………………………..4
Applications and technologies………………………………………………….4
Research question and vague areas…………………………………………..6
Importance in real life……………………………………………………………6
Advantages and disadvantages………………………………………………..7
Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………..8
References

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Cyber Terrorism
Introduction
Today with the ubiquity of internet in every sector of social and
political life, cyber terrorism is becoming rampant not mentioning its
complexity and severity. It is basically an illegal act of extracting or
destroying data and information from an individual or an organization’s
computer. This act is executed either by a gang of people or individuals
who are considered as computer genius. Cyberattacks have become even
more common since any kind of defence mechanisms against such
attacks is far from fool proof and the attackers take very advantage of
every loophole that exists in cyber law. Another encouraging factor for
these criminals is that Internet governance is subjected to various social
and economic constraints as well as it lacks the opportunities for
assessing different regulatory tools (Shackelford, 2014).
Problems
In the modern days, people are eventually depending more and
more on the Internet for the sake of surfing and browsing in order to
collect information and make business out of it. This has resulted in the
expansion of cyberspace and security in the cyber world. Any possibility
of threat from use of the Internet can be referred as “criminal acts
committed using electronic communications networks and information

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systems or against such networks and systems” (Lagazio et al., 2014,
p.59). Cyber-attacks can be of three kinds. First, there could be non-
permitted intrusions which in turn refer to a condition where the criminal
tends to invade a different computer system using hacking techniques.
Again, viruses could enter the systems through emails and all the
information of another computer could be erased or messed up. Thirdly,
services could be denied and this might destroy communication with
other parts of the system and other computer’s functionality (Howitt &
Pangi, 2003).
Challenges
The Internet has provided scopes to criminals in the cyber world to
be used in the virtual world for misanthropic activities. When different
firms and individuals carry out their activities on the Internet, they are
usually not aware that this space could become home to criminals who
can initiate their attacks. While it is true that the cyber space should be
protected from them, IT experts are still not able to completely
understand how far cyber-crime is effective and what could be the
probable outcomes. Since this aspect cannot be completely determined,
cyber security methods are not competent enough (Globalpost, 2011).
Different types of criminals can pursue cyberattacks. They use illegal
networks which could be built for purpose of building an area for their
crimes to be carried out. Cyber law system emphasizes on the specific
area of such crimes (Kshetri, 2010). Cyber law is about studying the
behavioural tendencies of cyber criminals by assessing their economic

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effects. However such issues cannot always be evaluated only on basis of
economic dimensions. For instances some crimes can take place for
seeking vengeance and satisfying psychological needs. This is most likely
to not consider the cost or the chance of being pointed out. Economic
aspects are useful especially when cybercrimes lead to money laundering
related activities. This occurs when expected gains are compared with
the costs to be incurred (Lagazio et al., 2014).
Applications & technology
Biometrics is the way of having technology that can distinguish
between people’s physical features like thumbprints and retinas. Since,
these features are unique for every individual therefore they can act as
strong security features as wrong persons, i.e. if the computer cannot
recognize the thumbprint or retina, cannot assess any information stored
in the computer. Although biometric authentication is considered as an
enhanced form of security measure this also has associated risks. For
one, people whose physical features are used as security and who have
access to confidential sources may not maintain their loyalty. Secondly,
people may be unwilling to provide their biometrics as security feature
for privacy concerns like relating them to some past crime or
misdemeanour. Predicting the future is not free of risk. With the growing
need of security methods, the concept of privacy is changing. One major
example is travelling by air which requires passengers to agree to body
scan and scrutiny of personal luggage, and this is not an option. To enter
USA, one needs to provide two fingerprint scans. One major terrorist

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attack can change the personal concept of privacy as people are lowering
their opposition to personal searches and storing personal information
by the respective authorities. Although it cannot be said for sure that in
future there will be universal acceptance of biometric authentication, the
tolerance level is surely increasing (Crowley, 2006).
Quantum cryptography is a way of writing messages in a code so
that it cannot be read by cyber criminals. Although it is assumed that
strongest encryption keys are unbreakable it still cannot guarantee that
with time and advancing technology such keys will remain secured
forever. Such keys are used in high circles like government and national
security centres and therefore demand fool proof method of security. At
present 2048-bit keys are used for encryption and they are practically
impossible to break since it will thousands of years to do so with one
computer. However, in recent time a student in Notre Dame broke a 109-
bit key in 549 by running 10,000 computers around the clock. However,
this scenario is totally impractical although this incident established if
time and resources are there then keys can be broken. It is also possible
that someone may invent a mathematical shortcut way to achieve the
task (SANS Institute, 2003).
Research Question and Vague areas
An appropriate research question related to cyberterrorism could
be ‘Can cyber security measures be directed to curb or prevent cyber
terrorism of different forms?” Although there is a constant proliferation
of worms and viruses, the scenario is changing with bots and botnets

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becoming more rampant and full of hassles. One major way of financial
gains is making and selling botnets to potential cyber criminals who lack
time or energy to make botnets. Moreover, there is a second way of
making money by using botnets to attack servers such as DNS or mail
servers thus making the servers inaccessible or slow. This is turn gives
the opportunity to botnet holders to ask for money from organizations in
exchange of leaving their places. In the world of malware, before a new
attack is perfected attention is shifted to creating a new one. According
to Schultz, (2006, p.8), “Writing worms and viruses that cause massive
infections is apparently no longer a central focus; writing better bots and
creating larger botnets is”.
Importance in real life
Stealing of private information is a growing concern in the social
media arena. It is a place where people post their personal photographs
like vacations, family ceremonies, etc. However, such stuff can be used
by hackers, stalkers or potential employers. Moreover, people tend to
post their vacation dates on these sites which becomes perfect
opportunities for burglars to break into their houses. People who tend to
party and smoke joints give out such information in social media which
can harm their career also make their friends appear same by association
and as such friends can sever contacts with them. Even a harmless
picture like that of a baby can label the person as pedophile (Siciliano,
2011).
Advantages and disadvantages

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Before finding the proper solution, motivational aspects can initiate
cyber criminals towards cyberattacks. A certain area where cyber
criminals are emphasizing upon regarding their criminal acts refers to
advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) that refers to the process of
recording use of data for utility companies which facilitate decision
making for customers on use of energy based upon the initial price of its
usage. AMI could not establish security measures. Attackers enter the
AMI framework with the motive of cyber attackers to disrupt the
infrastructural facilities of a nation. Besides this, evil cyber attackers can
try to use AMI as a point of initiation for different attacks on the Internet
by “virtue of the vast number of devices, their ability to initiate many-
pronged attacks, and even their ability to hide malicious or criminal data
through dispersion among many nodes” (Foreman & Gurugubelli, 2015,
p.101). When a system is under assault, the effect is not just within a
particular structure. Since the infrastructures are interconnected and
interdependent, the impact can be felt upon all kinds of frameworks
under attack. Also, the impact can be upon other related frameworks of
other systems. One example can be found in the electric industry which,
if disrupted can have its impact upon other industries which require
electric power. When electricity is disrupted the whole country is
affected (Amoroso, 2012, p.294).
It is said that “the task of aligning IT and business priorities is more
art than science” (Businessweek,2014). According to a survey conducted
by IBM in 2010 on 1,500 CEOs, information management in companies is
lagging behind and is not matching up to the constantly changing IT

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environment (McAfee, 4). In response to this complex situation, cloud
computing has emerged as a new technology of keeping all data in data
centres, and then lease the digital assets to other users. In such a case,
customers will not have to bother with the details and can pay only for
the data required. Privacy concerns are related to mapping the virtual
machines to the physical machines. In intrusion detection systems, data
mining techniques can be available for malware detection in clouds (Sen,
n.d.).
Conclusion
From what we understand the Internet has a key role in the security
and economic growth of a country. Cyberattacks are carried out by
experts who usually have the expertise and necessary possessions to
enter any area such as financial, communication, health care, emergency
and public infrastructure areas like water, oil and gas. Cyberattacks are
complex and this is clear from the fact that such misdeeds can be
executed by terrorists, political enemies and even teenagers. Cyber
security measures should take into considerations the purpose and
objectives of all kinds of hackers. The idea is to ideally integrate
technology into political decisions in order to battle against such cyber
criminals on various aspects. Cyber security maintenance should be done
carefully without bringing about any leakage in the system. Cyber
security is essential in all spheres of life, including households and
industries. I also believe that generating personal awareness is the key to
prevent cyber-crimes from all aspects. My colleagues have given a

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positive feedback on my paper. They have added issues like cyber crime
that can lead people losing credit card money, bank account money. I
agree with them that one secured way is to use to use to personal
computers with licenced versions of antivirus.
References
Amoroso, E. (2012) Cyber Attack: Protecting National Infrastructure, Elsevier
Businessweek (2010). 5 ways to improve IT effectiveness, Businessweek, retrieved from:
http://www.businessweek.com/managing/content/mar2010/ ca20100319_518706.htm
Globalpost (2011), China implicated in massive cyber attack targeting US, global post,
retrieved from: http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/asia-pacific/china/
110803/china- google-cyber-attack- us-spearphish- trawl-dope
Crowley, M.C. (2006). Cyber crime and biometric authentication – the problem of privacy
versus protection of business assets. Australian Information Security Management
Conference, Edith Cowan Univ.
Foreman, C. and Gurugubelli, D. (2015) Identifying the Cyber Attack Surface of the
Advanced Metering Infrastructure. The Electricity Journal, 28(1), 94-103
Howitt, A.M. & Pangi, R.L. (2003). Countering Terrorism: Dimensions of Preparedness,
MIT Press
Kshetri, N. (2010). The Global Cybercrime Industry, Springer
Lagazio, M., Sheriff, N. & Cushman, M. (2014). A multi-level approach to understanding the
impact of cyber crime on the financial sector. Computers & Security, 45, 58-74
McAfee, A. (2011). What Every CEO Needs to Know About the Cloud. Harvard Business
Review, 89(11)
SANS Institute (2003). Quantum Encryption – A means to perfect security? SANS Institute,
retrieved from: https://www.sans.org/reading-room/whitepapers/vpns/quantum-
encryption-means-perfect-security-986
Schultz, E. (2006). Where have the worms and viruses gone – New trends in malware.
Computer fraud & security
Sen, J. (n.d.). Security and Privacy issues in cloud computing, TCS, retrieved from:
https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/4dc3/70d253020947a8e66b701e12dd0233161229.pdf
Shackelford, S.J. (2014). Managing Cyber Attacks in International Law, Business, and
Relations, NY: Cambridge Univ. Press

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Siciliano, R. (2011). Social media privacy and personal security issues, Huffington Post,
retrieved from: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-siciliano/social-media-privacy-
and_b_245857.html