FBI special agent Mark Pollitt defines cyberterrorism as “the premeditated, politically motivated attack against information, computer systems, computer programs, and data which results in violence against noncombatant targets by sub-national groups or clandestine agents.”
--http://fmso.leavenworth.army.mil/documents/de-terror/de-terror.htm
Dorothy Denning defines cyberterrorism as “unlawful attacks and
threats of attack against computers, networks, and the information stored
therein…to intimidate or coerce a government or its people in furtherance
of political or social objectives…[resulting] in violence against
persons or property, or at least …enough harm to generate fear.”
--http://www.cs.georgetown.edu/~denning/infosec/cyberterror.html
Cyberterrorism has three components, then. First, it is via computers or the internet. Second, it is politically motivated, and third, it is violent.
Dorothy Denning offers some examples of what would constitute cyberterrorism:
“Attacks that lead to death or bodily injury, explosions, plane crashes,
water contamination, or severe economic loss would be examples. Serious attacks
against critical infrastructures could be acts of cyberterrorism, depending on
their impact.”
--http://www.cs.georgetown.edu/~denning/infosec/cyberterror.html
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What is the threat?
Popular “cyberfears” include everything from the possibility
of terrorists hacking into air traffic control systems and causing planes
to crash to terrorists remotely launching nuclear weapons.
However, cyberfears have been greatly exaggerated. No instance of cyberterrorism,
as defined above, has ever occurred. The closest thing to cyberterrorism
that has ever happened was in 1998, when an offshoot of the terrorist organization
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam swamped Sri Lankan embassies with 800
emails a day for two weeks (Denning 269). The attack generated fear in
the embassies and brought much publicity to the group, however, no one
was actually hurt. Cyberfears are also often based on the assumption that
sensitive military equipment and systems are vulnerable to cyberattack.
Sensitive military systems, including nuclear weapons, the CIA’s
classified computers, and the entire FBI network are protected by the most
basic internet security: they are air-gapped. Terrorists could not remotely
launch a nuclear weapon because nuclear weapons are not connected to the
internet; in fact, they are even isolated from the Pentagon’s internal
network. Additionally, nuclear weapons require “permissive action
links”— a set of codes carried by the president. Fears about
remotely hijacked airplanes are also exaggerated. The FAA strictly isolates
the air traffic control system from the administrative system, and it could
not be hacked.
-- http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2001/0211.green.html
-- http://www.cs.georgetown.edu/~denning/infosec/cyberterror.html
Today, cyberterrorism is hypothetical. Fears of imminent and highly
sophisticated attacks by terrorists carried out through the internet
are unfounded. However, it is important to monitor terrorist activity
on the internet, in order to be aware of new threats and new vulnerabilities,
and be able to respond if and when terrorists begin exploiting those
vulnerabilities.
Sources:
Dorothy Denning. “Activism, Hacktivism, and Cyberterrorism:
The Internet as a Tool for Influencing Foreign Policy.” Networks and Netwars:
The Future of Terror, Crime and Militancy. Ed. John Arquilla and David
Ronfeldt. Santa Monica: RAND, 2001. 239-288.
http://www.cs.georgetown.edu/~denning/infosec/cyberterror.html
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2001/0211.green.html
http://www.usip.org/pubs/specialreports/sr119.html