Business

Cyberterrorism

Troy Gibson

Sec 402 002016

Strayer University

Winter Quarter 2011

Instructor: Professor Nerove

With the new technology that is taking place here in the United States and the rest of the world, many criminals and terrorist organizations are using this new technology to carry out their terrorist attacks on our country with a terrorist attack known as cyberterrorism. Cyberterrorism, according to the United States Federal Bureau of Investigations, is any premeditated, political 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. Also with cyberterrorism, these attacks are designed to cause physical violence as well as extreme financial harm by targeting the banking industry, military installations, power plants, air traffic control centers, and water systems, and telecommunication infrastructure.

Many terrorist organizations use cybercrimes because there are some advantages to it instead of using the traditional methods of terrorist threats and attacks. Reason being, is that these attacks are very easy to disguise versus explosives, shootings, or chemical attacks. Terrorist groups feel that they can cause harm to any country’s economy by destroying its financial system and infrastructure. For example, according to an article in the Washington post, the FBI claimed that the terrorist group Al-Qaeda has made their presence online, and have said that Osama bin Laden stated that cyberspace, as a means to...