CYBER-TERRORISM

Cyber-Terrorism

Cyber-Terrorism

Introduction

If you ask 10 people what 'Cyber-Terrorism' is? you will get at least nine different answers! When those 10 people are computer security experts? whose task it is to create various forms of protection against 'Cyber-Terrorism'? this discrepancy moves from comedic to rather worrisome. When these 10 people represent varied factions of the governmental agencies tasked with protecting our national infrastructure and assets? it becomes a critical issue. However? given the lack of documented scientific support to incorporate various aspects of computer-related crime into the genre 'Cyber-Terrorism'? this situation should not be surprising.

Despite copious media attention? there is no consensus methodology by which various actions may be placed under the nomenclature 'Cyber-Terrorism'? yet the term clearly exists in common usage. The term? first coined in the 1980s by Barry Collin (Collin? 1997)? has blossomed in the last several years: “Protect yourself from the Cyber-Terrorist”; “Insure yourself against Cyber-Terrorism”; “Funding forthcoming to fight Cyber-Terrorism” (Hamblen and Luening).

All of these sound nice? but the reality is that the reader? solution provider? or defender is often left to his own devices as to what the term actually means and thus what solutions should be created (or implemented). When a government's or corporation's entire infrastructure may be at stake? subjectivity is useful but may not be the best evaluative tool.

At the same time? research of this phenomenon shows that Cyber-Terrorism cannot easily be defined. This creates a Catch-22 situation: the thing cannot be defined — yet without defining it? one cannot 'know' what it is one is fighting and hence come up with a good solution. Furthermore? even when there is an operational agreement on terms? if an attack/security event does not fit into one of the (often narrowly defined) categories? funding (and consequently investigation or technical remedy) may not be forthcoming.

Given the Augean task of attempting to define Cyber-Terrorism? one way we might approach the task of understanding it is to throw away the very idea of defining it at all? and instead begin by breaking it down into its fundamental elements — each of which can be examined and used as a foundation for developing solutions which may be technical? legal? social? educational? or policy driven. After all? a word is meaningless in and of itself — it is only the relational concepts that the word conveys that imbue the utterance with meaning.

As 'Cyber-Terrorism' relates to 'terrorism' a logical first step might be to look at the functional elements present in some operational definitions of 'terrorism'.

The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) defines terrorism as? “The unlawful use of force or violence? committed by a group(s) of two or more individuals? against persons or property? to intimidate or coerce a government? the civilian population? or any segment thereof? in furtherance of political or social objectives.” (FBI? 2002).

The United States Department of Defense (DOD) defines terrorism using a slightly broader brush? calling it “the unlawful use of? or threatened use? of force or violence against individuals or property? to coerce and intimidate governments ...