Cyber Terrorism- the Dark Side of the Web World

Cyber terrorism is the premeditated use of disruptive• Loss of intellectual property - research, pricing, etc.
activities, or the threat thereof, in cyber space, with the• Costs of forensics for recovery and litigation
intention to further social, ideological, religious, political or• Loss of critical communications in time of
similar objectives, or to intimidate any person inemergency.
furtherance of such objectives.Indirect Cost Implications
Computers and the internet are becoming an essential• Loss of confidence and credibility in our financial
part of our daily life. They are being used by individualssystems
and societies to make their life easier. They use them• Tarnished relationships& public image globally
for storing information, processing data, sending and• Strained business partner relationships - domestic
receiving messages, communications, controllingand internationally
machines, typing, editing, designing, drawing, and almost• Loss of future customer revenues for an individual
all aspects of life.or group of companies
The most deadly and destructive consequence of this• Loss of trust in the government and computer
helplessness is the emergence of the concept ofindustry
“cyber terrorism”. The traditional concepts andThe following are notable incidents of cyber terrorism:
methods of terrorism have taken new dimensions,• In 1998, ethnic Tamil guerrillas swamped Sri
which are more destructive and deadly in nature. In theLankan embassies with 800 e-mails a day over a
age of information technology the terrorists havetwo-week period. The messages read "We are the
acquired an expertise to produce the most deadlyInternet Black Tigers and we're doing this to disrupt
combination of weapons and technology, which if notyour communications." Intelligence authorities
properly safeguarded in due course of time, will takecharacterized it as the first known attack by terrorists
its own toll. The damage so produced would be almostagainst a country's computer systems.
irreversible and most catastrophic in nature. In short,• During the Kosovo conflict in 1999, NATO
we are facing the worst form of terrorism popularlycomputers were blasted with e-mail bombs and hit
known as "Cyber Terrorism".with denial-of-service attacks by hacktivists protesting
The law dealing with cyber terrorism is, however, notthe NATO bombings. In addition, businesses, public
adequate to meet the precarious intentions of theseorganizations, and academic institutes received highly
cyber terrorists and requires a rejuvenation in the lightpoliticized virus-laden e-mails from a range of Eastern
and context of the latest developments all over theEuropean countries, according to reports. Web
world.defacements were also common.
Cyber terrorist prefer using the cyber attack methods• Since December 1997, the Electronic Disturbance
because of many advantages for it. These are:-Theater (EDT) has been conducting Web sit-ins
1. It is Cheaper than traditional methods.against various sites in support of the Mexican
2. The action is very difficult to be tracked.Zapatistas. At a designated time, thousands of
3. They can hide their personalities and location.protestors point their browsers to a target site using
4. There are no physical barriers or check points tosoftware that floods the target with rapid and
cross.repeated download requests. EDT's software has also
5. They can do it remotely from anywhere in thebeen used by animal rights groups against
world.organizations said to abuse animals. Electrohippies,
6. They can use this method to attack a big number ofanother group of hacktivists, conducted Web sit-ins
targets.against the WTO when they met in Seattle in late
7. They can affect a large number of people.1999.
Forms of cyber terrorism-The Interpol, with its 178 member countries, is doing a
(I) Privacy violation:great job in fighting against cyber terrorism. They are
The law of privacy is the recognition of the individual'shelping all the member countries and training their
right to be let alone and to have his personal spacepersonnel.
inviolate. The right to privacy as an independent andThe Council of Europe Convention on Cyber Crime,
distinctive concept originated in the field of Tort law,which is the first international treaty for fighting against
under which a new cause of action for damagescomputer crime, is the result of 4 years work by
resulting from unlawful invasion of privacy wasexperts from the 45 member and non-member
recognized.countries including Japan, USA, and Canada. This
(II) Secret information appropriation and data theft:treaty has already enforced after its ratification by
The information technology can be misused forLithuania on 21st of March 2004.
appropriating the valuable Government secrets andThe Association of South East Asia Nations (ASEAN)
data of private individuals and the Government and itshas set plans for sharing information on computer
agencies.security. They are going to create a regional
(III) Demolition of e-governance base:cyber-crime unit by the year 2005.
The aim of e-governance is to make the interaction ofThe protection of I.T.A can be claimed for:
the citizens with the government offices hassle free(a) Preventing privacy violations,
and to share information in a free and transparent(b) Preventing information and data theft,
manner. It further makes the right to information a(c) Preventing distributed denial of services attack
meaningful reality. In a democracy, people govern(DDOS), and
themselves and they cannot govern themselves(d) Preventing network damage and destruction.
properly unless they are aware of social, political,Here are few key things to remember to protect from
economic and other issues confronting them. This, rightcyber-terrorism:
to receive information is, however, not absolute but is1. All accounts should have passwords and the
subject to reasonable restrictions which may bepasswords should be unusual, difficult to guess.
imposed by the Government in public interest.2. Change the network configuration when defects
(IV) Distributed denial of services attack:become know.
The cyber terrorists may also use the method of3. Check with venders for upgrades and patches.
distributed denial of services (DDOS) to overburden4. Audit systems and check logs to help in detecting
the Government and its agencies electronic bases.and tracing an intruder.
This is made possible by first infecting several5. If you are ever unsure about the safety of a site, or
unprotected computers by way of virus attacks andreceive suspicious email from an unknown address,
then taking control of them. Once control is obtained,don't access it. It could be trouble.
they can be manipulated from any locality by theThe problems associated with the use of malware are
terrorists. These infected computers are then made tonot peculiar to any particular country as the menace is
send information or demand in such a large numberglobal in nature. The countries all over the world are
that the server of the victim collapses.facing this problem and are trying their level best to
(V) Network damage and disruptions:eliminate this problem. The problem, however, cannot
The main aim of cyber terrorist activities is to causebe effectively curbed unless popular public support and
networks damage and their disruptions. This activitya vigilant judiciary back it. The legislature cannot enact
may divert the attention of the security agencies fora law against the general public opinion of the nation at
the time being thus giving the terrorists extra time andlarge. Thus, first a public support has to be obtained not
makes their task comparatively easier. This processonly at the national level but at the international level as
may involve a combination of computer tampering,well. The people all over the world are not against the
virus attacks, hacking, etc. The intention of a cyberenactment of statutes curbing the use of malware, but
terrorism attack could range from economic disruptionthey are conscious about their legitimate rights. Thus,
through the interruption of financial networks andthe law to be enacted by the legislature must take
systems or used in support of a physical attack tocare of public interest on a priority basis. This can be
cause further confusion and possible delays in properachieved if a suitable technology is supported by an
response.apt legislation, which can exclusively take care of the
Effects of Cyber Terrorism on economic & socialmenace created by the computers sending the
life-malware. Thus, the self-help measures recognized by
Direct Cost Implicationsthe legislature should not be disproportionate and
• Loss of sales during the disruptionexcessive than the threat received by the malware.
• Staff time, network delays, intermittent access forFurther, while using such self-help measures the
business usersproperty and rights of the general public should not be
• Increased insurance costs due to litigationaffected.