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| Source: IPreditor Inc. |
For those who have merely stumbled upon this blog, over the course
of the next several weeks I will be discussing and analysing the aspect of
cyber crime - cyber
terrorism.
The number of global web users has been documented as 1.7 billion
– an increase of over 100% since 1995 (UK Government, 2010). Despite continuous
opportunities it brings, there are down falls which pose a great threat to
society and our national security, causing a range of critical challenges that
need to be governed and secured. One major sub category within cybercrime is cyber
terrorism, which has been views as a political threat in recent years in both
the United
Kingdom
Establishing a specific definition for cyber terrorism proved to
be complex, however when Collin (1982) first coined the term ‘cyber terrorism’,
he argued that it can be defined as 'merging the physical and cyber world
together' (Denning, 2010). Further stating that future cyber warfare would
include terrorists conducting attacks through the cyber network, his fears
where that of civilian aircrafts crashes being caused by cyber hacking at the
click of a mouse. There are actually numerous definitions that have been put
forward to define cyber terrorism; a simplified understanding is expressed in
the International Scientific Defence Journal:
“The unlawful use or threatening use of force or violence by a
person or an organized group against people or property with the intention of
intimidating or forcing societies or governments, often for ideological or
political reasons.”
(Bogdanoski, 2013:59)
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| Source: Wired |
Terrorism as a whole has always been of interest and certainly
still poses a threat to the Western World, involving both homeland and foreign
terrorism. Yet, cyber terrorism is rarely addressed in the same way, leading my
desire to investigate it in more detail to gain a better understand of the
history and damage it can cause. Furthermore, the reasoning behind choosing
this topic is the debate (which will be addressed in later blogs) as to whether
the threat of cyber terrorism is real. Weimann’s (2004) report addressed these
concerns and finalised my choice as a category to explore throughout these
upcoming blogs.
Evidently, crime dates back to biblical times, but as technology
improves there are only more advanced ways one can commit crime. Cyber crime
has been labelled a '21st century phenomenon' (KCS Group, 2011). Wall (2007)
argues that the criminal behaviours that fit into this category of crime can be
classified into either 'traditional',
'hybrid' or 'true' (Wall, 2007: 54).
- 'Traditional' - originally were crimes categorised as
'discrete' (e.g. bank fraud). However, now this term has expanded to
crimes that use computers in order to collect information, which can then
be used to organise or commit a crime (such as murder).
- 'Hybrid' - distinguished from traditional because they
are committed across global networks, but would still continue without the
internet by other means, just not on a scale as large.
- 'True' - cybercrimes that are sole products of the
internet and not possible without it.
Word count: 503
References:
Bogdanoski, M. (2013). CYBER TERRORISM– GLOBAL SECURITY THREAT. INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC DEFENCE,
SECURITY AND PEACE JOURNAL. 13 (24), 59 - 75.
CISCO. (2013). What
Is the Difference: Viruses, Worms
Denning, D. (2010). ‘Terror’s web: how the Internet is
transforming terrorism.’ In
Yar, M and Jewekes, Y. (2009) Handbook
of Internet Crime, Willan Publishers: 194-212.
KCS Group (2011). Cyber Crime — a 21st century phenomenon
which won’t go away. London
Wall, D (2007). Cybercrime: The transformation of crime in
the information age. Cambridge
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