Cyber terrorism and Terrorist organizations Essay Example
Cyber terrorism and Terrorist organizations Essay Example

Cyber terrorism and Terrorist organizations Essay Example

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  • Pages: 3 (756 words)
  • Published: November 20, 2021
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Cyber terrorism is the intentional use of computers, networks and internet to cause harm and destruction (Conway, 2014). It is done to intimidate a government in furtherance of social and political objectives. An attack should result in violence against people and property or at least cause enough harm to generate fear in order to qualify as cyber terrorism (Conway, 2014). Cyber terrorism has posed a potential threat which has evoked considerable alarm. It has become a very attractive option for modern terrorists. Modern terrorists use cyber terrorism because they value its anonymity, big psychological impact, potential to inflict massive damage and media appeal (Conway, 2014).

Cyber terrorism remains a real threat to United States. Terrorists can use cyber attacks to inflict a big damage to the country. Cyber attacks are cheaper to carry out than the traditio

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nal methods and they are becoming more appealing to terrorist (Jarvis et al, 2014). Terrorists can infiltrate the power grid and shut it down. Shutting down the grid can cause mass casualties. Most of the power grid systems were built before the age of terrorism and this leaves the grid very vulnerable to attacks (Jarvis et al, 2014). Massive power outage can unleash chaos and distract from a simultaneous terrorist attack. Terrorists can also take control of dams systems and use the water to attack people living along the rivers. The impact of such attacks can be devastating.

Terrorist organizations have the capability of recruiting highly trained computer experts (Jarvis et al, 2014). Terrorist organizations use these people to carry out the cyber attacks. There is also a problem of state sponsored cyber terrorism. Countries like Iran sponsor hackers who carr

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out attacks against United States to cause damages especially to the economy. The hackers can also steal data about military operations. This data can be used to compromise military operations or to carry terrorist attacks against military installations (Jarvis et al, 2014). Cyber terrorism also remains a big threat since the attacks are fast, easy and inexpensive. The attacks can be achieved without massing forces and a single person can carry out the attack. These attacks are very difficult to control unlike the traditional forms of terrorism.

The U.S government is making several efforts against cyber terrorism which has made it to reinstate various security measures in different departments (Ariely, 2014). For instance banks have invented new method to secure their systems through installation of failover systems and backups for their networks. This is aimed to improve the security and ensuring safety of data in the banks. The government has as well come up with laws to protect private sectors against cyber insecurity (Ariely, 2014). New centres to deal with cyber threats for the private sector have been implemented. This aims at safeguarding the online users to ensure safety of their businesses for maximum production (More & Kumar, 2014).

Security agencies such as FBI, foreign law enforcement agencies and National Security Agencies are meant to work with private sectors for analysis of their operations to ensure full security (More & Kumar, 2014). The government of US has put in place proper information- sharing channels to bond both companies and the government (Ariely, 2014). This is aimed to ensure online connection and to enhance sharing of information between both of these which acted as a fall back during

the past. It is aimed to improve on the government’s response time to threats. The privacy of companies is going to improve and also the civil liberties.

Cyber terrorism remains a big threat to security of United States. Many terrorist organizations are carrying out cyber attacks against the country although in a small-scale. This should raise alarm since this shows terrorists can infiltrate our computer system. The small scale attacks shows the terrorists have capability to carry out large scale attacks since they are increasing their expertise with time. The US government is taking measures to prevent the attacks but this is not enough. Terrorists are finding loopholes to launch attacks. The government needs to invest highly in the cyber security sector.

References

  1. Ariely, G. A. (2014). Adaptive Responses to Cyber terrorism. In Cyber terrorism (pp. 175- 195). Springer New York.
    Conway, M. (2014). What is Cyber terrorism and How Real is the Threat?. Cyber Behavior: Concepts, Methodologies, Tools, and Applications: Concepts,
  2. Methodologies, Tools, and Applications, 217.
  3. Jarvis, L., Macdonald, S., & Nouri, L. (2014). The cyberterrorism threat: Findings from a survey of researchers. Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, 37(1), 68-90.
  4. More, R. M., & Kumar, A. (2014). A Study of Current Scenario of Cyber Security Practices and Measures: Literature Review. International Journal of Engineering Research and General Science, 2(5).
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