Cyberterrorism refers to politically instructed or motivated acts, which involve using computers and information systems to induce fear and disruption of activities within a wide community. On the contrary, cybercrime refers to any criminal activities whose main targets are computer users (Gong, 2017). The key differences between the two include motivation for the acts, mechanisms of actions, and the magnitude of harm of impact caused by both.
Using the first distinctive difference between the two, cyberterrorism derives its motivation from political ambitions. In essence, most incidences of cyberterrorism include hacking government systems and interfering with key facilities to alter the normal functioning of governments. Hostile nations or terrorist groups use cyberterrorism to sabotage key infrastructure, including bridges, waste systems, and water systems in cities, leading to massive disruption of activities. Cyberterrorism could also involve interference with a country's power systems, leading to loss of power and disruption of activities, including healthcare (Gong, 2017). Such activities are motivated by political and ideological differences between nations and groups. On the contrary, cybercrime originates from poor management of systems and easy access to such systems. Cybercrimes are conducted for economic purposes whereby individuals want to be ransomed or gain pleasure for accessing critical data.
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Cyberterrorism affects a large number of people, whereby cities could be disrupted through the activities of cyber-terrorists. For instance, the disruption of a city's power control systems or a country's airline operations could disrupt many facilities' normal functioning. Hospitals could lack power due to such acts leading to deaths (Gong, 2017). Food stores could also incur losses due to the destruction of their products due to the lack of electricity. On the contrary, cybercrime online involves targeted individuals; hence, it cannot disrupt cities' normal functioning.
Finally, cyberterrorism and cybercrime can also be differentiated through their mechanisms of action. In essence, cyber-terrorists initiate their actions from local and international spaces, aiming to gain unauthorized access to systems (Gong, 2017). Contrarily, cybercriminals operate mostly from local areas whereby they target vulnerable individuals.
Reference
Gong, C. (2017). Cyber-Terrorism and Cyber-Crime: There Is a Difference . Air Command and Staff College, Air Univeristy Maxwell AFB United States. https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/citations/AD1054569
