Technology has advanced adversely over time in most parts of the world. While technological advancements come with many advantages since it has simplified many things through automation, it poses many disadvantages. One of the significant technological advancements globally is cyber advancement which has led to the development of cyberterrorism. Security community’s, industry of information technology’s and mass media attention has been grabbed by the threat cyberterrorism poses (Gross, 2017). Politicians, experts in information technology, and journalists have raised the alarm on a scenario of possible electronic breaks by sophisticated cyber terrorists into computers used to control traffic or dam, which can wreak havoc, thus endangering both national security and millions of lives. To understand how real the threat of cyberterrorism and how alarming it is, one must consider that critical infrastructure is computer networks in western societies exposing them to possible cyberterrorist attacks. The ability of hackers to access critical information or even classified information from government servers even not motivated by terrorist acts demonstrates how easy it can be to conduct a terror attack using cyber hacking. Independence in society's information proliferates, creates new vulnerabilities where a terrorist can approach targets such as air and defense forces control systems and use them to conduct attacks. Cyberterrorism is a rapidly growing threat triggered by technological advancement globally. Cyberterrorism notion roots back to the 1990s where with extensive internet use and growth, the debate about how the technology functional United States is secure shot (Weimann, 2004). The USA's dependability to function efficiently saw the rise of fears of the potential risks it faced since it is dependent on high-tech and highly networked systems. Cyberterrorism is more based on the idea that terrorists are more likely to use keyboards to conduct terror attacks deviating from bombs' past use. Economic, political, and psychological forces combine efforts to raise awareness and promote fear of possible terror attacks, which are technological. Psychologists indicate that unknown threats are dangerous than the known ones since mitigating measures would take long to develop. Viewed from a perspective that it does not involve violence that is directly threatened, it has adverse psychological effects compared to actual attacks of bombing since there is a lack of information, fear of the unknown, and miss information. Since the 9/11 attack, terrorism groups seemed to have been offered opportunities by cyberterrorism to cause damage; it is not an exception to political discussions (Weimann, 2004). After it was reported that Iraq had a network, the Iraq Net, which consisted of many websites globally, it indicated how real the threat of cyberterrorism is triggering debates on the stability of cyberspace and national security. Even though different concerned entities play a significant role in publicizing the threats of cyberterrorism, they don’t have a clear, consistent definition of cyberterrorism. Most of the debates regarding cyberterrorism are conducted by media where the focus is on sensation and drama authenticity by journalists and not the definition of the terms in operation (Blakemore, 2016). Also, there is a trend where the term cyber is used to refer to any computer dealing where the term cyberterrorism originates with political and military strategist using it to describe cyber terrorism as the new terrorism. However, efforts have been made that introduce a semantic precision regarding cyberterrorism. Therefore it can be defined as terrorism and cyberspace convergence. It involves threats of attacks and unlawful attacks against networks, computers, and information and the information stored in them to coerce and intimidate governments and people. The aim is to further social or political objectives. For a cyber-attack to qualify as a terrorism act, it has to result in persons or property violence or generate fear by causing enough harm. Cyberterrorism could be, for example, where the traffic systems are hacked to cause accidents or electric trains hacked, thus the occurrence of an accident and many lives loss. Cyberterrorism must be motivated by causing harm or death to people. Attacks that are serious on critical infrastructure depending on their impact, are cyberterrorism acts. People fail to distinguish between cybercrimes or hacktivism and cyberterrorism which makes the threat of terrorism through technology even bigger. Cybercrimes and hacktivism are almost similar where cybercrime is mainly meant to make money out of a computer network attack, while hacktivism involves attacks motivated by a political agenda (Weimann, 2004). On the other hand, cyberterrorism is purely meant to cause damage. All the activities involve hacking which is online conducted activities aimed at manipulating, exploiting and identifying the operating systems of computer vulnerabilities and other software. Two factors are considered while differentiating cybercrime and terrorism, which are individual benefit and destruction. Cybercrimes are rampant globally, where hackers target banks, insurance firms, and big firms. Cybercriminals access people’s information through weak systems such as data storage systems in hospitals where there is a lot of patient data. This way, they access their bank information, insurance information, and other crucial information. They use that information to defraud insurance firm’s money or control individuals' bank transactions. Cybercriminals can also hack into organizations' computers and networks for information, after which they sell it to competitors. Cyber terrorists have different motivating factors as their aim is not money but to cause as much harm as possible or cause an enormous economic loss for the country. Cyberterrorists primarily target government and military networks or computers to gather information which they use to plan an attack. For example, contrasting from a cybercriminal, a cyberterrorist will hack into a hospital's life support machines or ventilation systems to cause patients' death. They can as well hack into military systems where they launch missiles to highly populated areas. Cyber terrorism has several possible effects on governments or people if computers, and networks are not adequately cautioned from such attacks. The fear of the unknown causes a psychological effect on people as they fear experiencing cyberterrorism (Gross, 2017). Psychological effects are by far effective compared to actual attacks such as bombing. Cyberterrorism might lead to the mass loss of lives globally and not only in western nations, as almost every country in the world uses the internet and computers. Thousands of attacks can be launched at any given time. For example, air control traffic systems in different airports in the world can be hacked, leading to airplanes collisions worldwide. This leads to mass deaths and losses to the owners of the planes. The most vulnerable and at-risk bodies are the government and the military. Military intel servers can be accessed by terrorists and used to ambushed military camps. The military information can be used to make weapons aimed at launching attacks against western countries. Cyberterrorism can also be viewed from a perspective where information accessed from government networks and computers is used to manipulate the government for indirect terrorism attacks. Cyberterrorism could have adverse effects, not only on the governments and military but also on the people. It would be uncontrollable since no one knows where the next attack will be, what information cybercriminals have, and for how long they have gathered information.
Conclusion
Technology came with many advantages embraced by every entity, including governments, organizations, military, and individuals. It has automated many things that were challenging for human beings to do, reducing operation costs and improving people's living standards. Information can be passed within a matter of seconds despite the individuals' geographical position while the world has been made a global village. Amid all these advantages lies one of the most significant risks to humanity, cyberterrorism. A human brain can’t store and remember as much information as computers and servers can. Computers are used globally to store information exposing the data to the risk of being accessed by ill-minded individuals. Human beings leave very crucial information in the networks they use as well exposing it to cyberterrorism. What makes cyberterrorism even more dangerous is uncertainty since no government is aware of where terrorists have accessed its information. The only mitigating method that the government, psychologist, and economic experts are creating is awareness of cyberterrorism and its possible effects. Cyberterrorism could be dangerous than even actual terrorism since it’s hard to detect or suspect where it going to be launched.
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References
Blakemore, B. (2016). Policing cyberhate, cyber threats, and cyber-terrorism . Routledge.
Gross, M. L., Canetti, D., & Vashdi, D. R. (2017). Cyberterrorism: its effects on psychological well-being, public confidence, and political attitudes. Journal of Cybersecurity , 3 (1), 49-58.
Weimann, G. (2004). Cyberterrorism. How real is the threat ?
