Cyber-Terrorism, Which Has Stemmed From

¶ … cyber-terrorism, which has stemmed from modern technology and has grown into a means of national and international terrorism. It examines how cyber-terrorism and hacking have perpetually threats to the national security and economy of the United States as the government, banks, and many large businesses have become increasingly dependent of the use of the Internet in order to run their operations. The premise that cyber-terrorism attacks can be more harmful than physical attacks such as bombings will be explored. As these attacks could potentially cripple essential systems that would directly impact communications, security, and financial markets, an overview of how the government in cooperation with intelligence agencies and the FBI are trying to protect the data that is available on the most critical networks, including the military.

Although cyber-terrorism presents a clear and present danger to this country, with effective measures in place, we can control the possibility of a cyber attack. In the event that one should occur, our security measures should be designed to help us easily recover from the loss without long-term consequences. It is my conclusion that there is little doubt that with the continued growth of the Internet and advancement of modern digital communications systems, the threat of cyber-terrorism is one that will continue to increase.

INTRODUCTION

As technology continues to grow at a rapid pace, the government, banks, and many businesses have taken advantage of the new opportunities that are available through the Internet and complex computer networking systems to conduct their daily business. While technology has improved and lessened the time involved with many transactions that would have taken days to accomplish years ago now being capable of being accomplished in mere minutes, if not seconds, many have opened themselves to the dangers of cyber-terrorism. As quickly as tools are created to prevent unauthorized access of information, ways are being created to work around these protections.

Just as technology has become increasingly smarter, the danger of disruption to vital parts of the nation's security, infrastructure, and banking systems has rapidly increased. It is no longer a matter the threat of the annoyance of a simple computer virus to temporary disable a computer network. The potential for widespread electronic attacks from cyber-terrorists could result in the leakage of national security information and the disabling of banking systems. Enemies of the United States no longer need to reply on physical acts of terrorism when they are able to potentially cause more lasting damage through cyber-terrorism. This paper seeks to explain cyber-terrorism, ways in which it is employed, and the way in which the United States is responding to its dangers.

DEFINING CYBER-TERRORISM