2000 Level Course
Instructor: Dr. Schubert
Defining Cyberterrorism
One of the most necessary questions for the UN to answer at the moment is
“What is terrorism?”, since there is no universal definition for terrorism. This is
because it is needed to determine the differences between terrorism and other forms of
crimes. In the past there have been many spreads of terror, especially from the Arabic
Comment [SS1]: How shall I put
this? Your ending is better than the
beginning. The middle is wasted. You
seem to rely on one author’s point of
view. You fail to present different
theoretical perspectives, mainly
because you failed to read up on the
topic at hand. You mention no serious
competitive models for defining
terrorism and confuse cyber warfare
and espionage with cyber terrorism.
countries. This makes the impression towards society – especially in the United States
You need to expand your knowledge
greatly and tighten the text. Fix all my
comments and resubmit.
– that anyone from an Arabic country is a terrorist, which is not correct. This has
As it stands:
14/20
occurred due to coincidences such as the September 11th incidence, which has been
claimed to be caused by al-Qaeda. These forms of terrorism are slowly turning into
cyberterrorism, since the developments in technologies have improved in a way in
Comment [SS2]: Who says this is
the reason. For example, Schubert
(2007) or Hoffman (2010).
Comment [SS3]: Again, who says
so. This is a lit review.
which even personal cars can now be controlled through a computer (Corneliussen,
Comment [SS4]: Not claimed, but
executed by. There is no debate or
question of any real scholarly nature
here.
2012). My question is, what is the link between “cyber” and “terrorism”, and how can
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cyberterrorism be defined?
Firstly we have to be able to define terrorism to start talking about cyber
Comment [SS5]: This is the first
useful sentence and it is a good one,
but nevertheless AQ terrorism is not
transforming as you say. Cyberterror is
just another tool in the toolbox.
terrorism. There are many different definitions of terrorism since there is no universal
accepted definition of terrorism. The definition the UN – being the most accepted –
Comment [SS6]: Repetitive.
has agreed on “Criminal acts intended or calculated to provoke a state of terror in the
general public, a group of persons or particular persons for political purposes are in
any circumstance unjustifiable, whatever the considerations of a political,
philosophical, ideological, racial, ethnic, religious or any other nature that may be
invoked to justify them (Perera, 1994).” The FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation)
also came up with a definition for terrorism, “the unlawful use of force or violence,
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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 DOD (Department of
Defense) has as well a different but similar definition of terrorism, “the unlawful use
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of, or threatened use, of force or violence against individuals or property, to coerce
and intimidate governments or societies, often to achieve political, religious or
ideological objectives (Gordon, 2003).” When analyzing terrorism, what is looked at
are different aspects or “elements”: the people, the location, the methods, the tools,
the targets, the affiliations and the motivations; which all together define a terrorism
act for what it is. The problem with these aspects of terrorism, is that not many people
agree on all these “elements” (Gordon, 2003).
Comment [SS7]: All these
definitions should be cited with their
defining institutions (DOD, UN, State
etc. ). The authors you are referring to
such as Gordon make analyses about
those definitions and you say nothing
about that until the next sentence,
which is good.
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The word cyber means, “relating to or characteristic of the culture of
computers, information technology, and virtual reality (Oxford University Press).”
Comment [SS8]: You mean here the
oxford dictionary and not the press.
Cyber comes from the word cybernetics, which means “the science of
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communications and automatic control systems in both machines and living things
(Oxford University Press).” The definitions of terrorism, if applied to the definition of
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cybernetics, applies in the control of automatic systems, meaning that through a
command or program using a computer someone can release a chain of reactions
controlling a form of act that will eventually cause and spread terror. One example to
this form of terrorism, of controlling a system would be the disruption of a Syrian air
defense network, while Israel was bombing an alleged Syrian nuclear facility in
September 2007 (CSIS, 2006-2012). More importantly, the connection between
terrorism, and the information technology and communication to achieve this terror is
less common and more complicated. A recent example would be the case of the
Comment [SS9]: Are you saying
that is cyberterrorism as opposed to
cyberwarfare. There must a difference
and you seem to be ignoring that.
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Trojan virus named “Mahdi” gathering information about critical infrastructure
engineering firms, government agencies, financial houses, and academia throughout
the Middle East, this happened in July 2012 (CSIS, 2006-2012). It must not be
confused, that hacking for other reasons than a political mean or a mean to spread
Comment [SS10]: So how is
collecting information terrorism and
not cyber espionage?
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terror is not cyber terrorism, such as the case of the withdraw of $16 million from the
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Merrick Bank in May 2009 (CSIS, 2006-2012). This particular example is not an act
Comment [SS11]: Good, but then
why do you fail to make similar
distinctions earlier.
of terrorism, especially since it does not spread terror, is not for political reasons and
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does not include an act of violence, but this act might also be an example of pure
Comment [SS12]: This is the central
component that divides crime from
terrorism.
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cyberterrorism, which definition has not been elaborated on.
When talking about cyber terrorism, we expect it to be a terrorist act through a
Comment [SS13]: Or the threat of
violence. You really need to think a
little but deeper.
computer. Which leads to the main problem with cyberterrorism. The issue is that it is
not known if the terror is caused through a computer, or if it is terror in cyberspace,
meaning terror through loss of valuable information, or loss of software. Both forms
are subcategories of cyberterrorism. One of these forms is called “pure
cyberterrorism”, meaning terrorist acts that are entirely carried out in the virtual world.
Comment [SS14]: According to
whose typology. I hope it isnot Gordon,
because then you are only relying on
one author’s concept and that is the
opposite of a literature review.
The other method is a more direct one, which for example means to explode a bomb
through a computer; of course the bomb had already been set on place (Gordon, 2003).
Cyberterrorism can’t be properly defined, after all there is still need to find a
universally accepted definition of terrorism. However, based on the literature, it nay
indeed be characterized and described. But one We can say with relative certainty that
Comment [SS15]: And of course
because you are ignoring other authors
you miss here the vital aspect of using
digitally connected industrial systems
to overload an electricity grid, over
heat a nuclear reactor, open the flood
gates on a dam, etc. Think man, think!
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straightforward and simple definition of cyberterrorism includes would be, the
creation or spread of terror or severe disruption caused by the willful and harmful use
of an information technology and a with a politically motivation. ed use of computers.
BibliographyCited References
Corneliussen, S. T. (2012, 7 10). Does Hacking Threaten Motorists. Retrieved from Phisics
Today:
http://www.physicstoday.org/daily_edition/science_and_the_media/does_hacking_thr
eaten_motorists
CSIS. (2006-2012). Significant Cyber Incidents Since 2006. Retrieved from CSIS:
http://csis.org/files/publication/121113_Significant_Cyber_Incidents_Since_2006.pdf
FBI. (2002). Terrorism 2002-2005. Retrieved from The Federal Bureau of Investigation:
http://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications/terrorism-2002-2005
Gordon, S. (2003). Cyberterrorism? Retrieved from Symantec:
https://www.symantec.com/avcenter/reference/cyberterrorism.pdf
Oxford University Press. (n.d.). Cyber. Retrieved from Oxford Dictionary:
http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/cyber?q=cyber
Oxford University Press. (n.d.). Oxford Dictionaries. Retrieved from Cybernetics:
http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/cybernetics
Perera, R. (1994). Declaration on Measures to Eliminate International Terrorism (1994).
Retrieved from http://untreaty.un.org/cod/avl/ha/dot/dot.html