Can all cyber crimes be termed as cyber terrorism?

The nature of the terrorist threat to society has changed significantly in the course of recent years. We have recently seen several smaller but no less severe acts of terrorism around regions of great casualties and terrifying images, and the nature of the threat will continue to change as new technologies and abilities emerge from terrorist organizations. Cyber terrorism is a prime example of a newly vulnerable border.

Cyber threats have increased in recent years, with high-profile attacks making headlines across the world. Nuclear installations and critical command-and-control systems are not immune to cyber attacks; one such attack could facilitate the theft of useful weapons. Additionally, nuclear weapons activity could be interfered with and controlled by them

The term "cyber terrorism" is coined by the computer whiz Barry C. Collin. According to the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, “Cyber terrorism is any premeditated, politically motivated attack against information, computer systems, computer programs, and data which results in violence against non-combatant targets by sub-national groups or clandestine agents.”

The main objective of cyber terrorists is to take down a nation's critical infrastructure through cyber attacks to push forward the causes they defend as terrorists. Various infrastructures, including telecommunications, power grids; transport networks, banking & financial institutions and water facilities are at the top of their wish list. Supply, fuel production and supply chains, military complexes, government operations and emergency services are also potential targets.

In today's business world, systems and data are critical assets that are dependent on, and tampering with these assets can significantly affect market capitalization, reputation, and sales. A cyber security breach can destabilize an organization overnight.

Cybercrime cannot always be considered cyber terrorism. While all cyber terrorism incidents are cyber crimes, not all cybercrimes can be considered acts of cyber terrorism. Those cybercrimes that are ideologically or politically motivated are considered as cyber terrorism.

FBI defines a cyber-terror attack as an act of cybercrime specifically designed to cause physical harm. As of yet, however, there is no consensus between governments regarding what qualifies as cyber terrorism.

Many other organizations and experts believe that less harmful attacks are also acts of cyber terrorism, as long as they are harmful and promote the attacker's political views. Cybercrime activities are intentionally carried out: The primary motivation for cyber terrorism attacks is to disrupt or harm the targets, even if the attack does not cause physical injury or extreme financial loss.

Many cyber security experts believe an incident should be classified as cyber terrorism if it results in physical harm or death, either directly or indirectly by disruption of critical infrastructure, while others believe that physical damage is not a requirement for classification as a terrorist attack.

In order to attack critical infrastructure, cyber terrorists take advantage of a wide range of sophisticated tools. Many terrorist groups are interested in breaking into these networks. These tools include DDOS (Distributed Denial of Service), phishing, vishing (VoIP phishing), buffer overflow, IP spoofing, etc. Of these tools, DDOS is the perpetrators' favorite tool. The complexity and geographical scope of cyber attacks have grown in recent years. Also, the number of attacks has risen significantly. This can be attributed to several factors.

Terrorist groups view these attacks as asymmetric warfare against powerful nations, which is low-cost and low-risk. In recent years, a massive increase in cyber attacks has been attributed to easy access to malware on the web, the increasing technical capabilities of terrorist groups, the anonymity of the Internet and the ever-expanding network of critical infrastructures in industrialized and developing countries.

The rise of highly skilled hackers, often supported by the nation-state, coincides with the development of more sophisticated tools that are likely to break into the wider area via a thriving black market.

It's important to conduct a comprehensive cyber security audit of our critical infrastructure. It will help us identify our vulnerabilities and thus connect them.  Cyber attacks can be thwarted by devising and implementing more stringent encryption standards and access control systems as well as by increasing our technological capabilities in order to thwart these attacks before they happen. We should also train users of critical infrastructure to adopt secure practices.

Nevertheless, we must not forget that a cyber-terrorist only needs to exploit one vulnerability to accomplish his mission, while we must deal with the full range of security risks.

By: Reethamshi Kolipaka

(BBA LLB, ICFAI College)

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