The world was in shock when they saw the news footage of the events on September 11, 2001. I to saw those planes turned into missiles and there destruction of the World Trade Center. What we had seen that day was the worst terrorist attack on the United States, and is inexcusable and should be condemned by they entire world. The ghastly terrorist attacks led to a mixture around the world. Visible efforts by politicians to try to separate terrorists from Muslims, it has not been easy.
A number of factors for this revised number, were said to include initial overestimates; more than one person reporting the same missing person; eroic rescue operations, etc. This lower number doesn’t in any way reduce the impact though. ) There was no question that there was not going to be some sort of retaliation and response from America. The fight against terrorism has been a centerpiece throughout the world as America continues to lead its fight.
We as a nation can only hope that what we do to fight terrorism will be the beginning of the end for extremists. What we do must show that we are committed and show that all of our resources can work together to reach the common goal in defeating terrorism at home and abroad. The FBI defines terrorism as the unlawful use of force or violence against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives. http://www. fbi. ov/homepage. htm Defining Cyber-terrorism as the use of computing resources to intimidate or force others. Looking at an example of cyber-terrorism could be seen as hacking into a hospital computer system and changing someone’s medicine prescription providing information that could cause the individual to receive a lethal dosage as an act of revenge. This may sound to be far etched, but these things can and will happen. Terrorists are not just exploring weapons of mass destruction but they have found ways to cause mass disruption.
Extremists groups at one time were working in a relatively isolated area, but now with the accessibility of the web the can now use the internet to recruit men and woman cover a lager portion of the world. Cyber attacks against our vital infrastructure systems will become an increasingly feasible option for terrorists as they become familiar with these areas giving them the means and ways to attack them. Terrorist groups such as al-Qa’ida and Hizballah, are becoming killed at using the Internet and computer technologies still providing them with better ways to create terror upon there victims..
These terrorist groups have both the intent and the desire to develop some of the cyber skills needed to forge an effective cyber attack against the world. Groups under Palestinian control along with international terrorist organizations make substantial use of the Internet to spread there propaganda dealing with the there support in terrorism. The Internet can also give them the means of maintaining contact between organizations, their infrastructures and their target populations. The web gives them all this often over enormous distances.
We have seen the importance of the Internet for the terrorist as a means of marketing there ideas and ways after the events of September 11, 2001. The Web makes it fairly easy for them to evade the difficulties forced by various governments. It also enables them to take advantage of liberal Western laws giving there right to freedom of speech to spread their misinformation without effective control and with no censorship whatsoever. Just attacking a computer for the sheer joy of being able to do so, may not be considered as an act of terrorism but this will cause fear.
The personal computer has become a large part of most everyone’s lives. By tapping in one Terrorist can attack a computer which in the long run will have a great impact on the lives of many people. If they find a way to attack and destroy or alter data, or cause a malfunction in any way imagine the fear this would bring… There is no question that terrorist can cause and use the computer to accomplish and bring it to a violent end. It is certain that some terrorist groups will attack at some point in the cyber world in the near future.
The first attack I would consider would come in the area of finances, which ill involve the banking facilities as well as the government structure. Other targets can be just about anything that involves one dealing with a computer. In theory, if we have something controlled by a computer it too can be controlled by another computer or even misdirected. We find that even if something is not controlled by a computer, it could conceivably be put under control by another computer.
For example those computers that control our water supply, the computer could be set to change and programmed to contaminant the water and intern infect an entire city. If a plan is set by a computer it can be programmed to fly into a uilding. “What If” The computer is a tool that can be used anywhere and used by anyone. Most of the time we have seen it used in a smaller scale, but sooner or later they will figure it out and use it. Will we stand buy and wait?
When the words are such as, word cyber-war we direct our thinking to of a computer hacker who had gained control of nuclear missile launch through its computer, but is this what really happens? Some say no, what do you think? In actuality, cyber-war will be much more subtle, providing work for terror as its chief weapon. Experts had said that the most effective method ill be “nuisance” hacks, doing such things as cutting off power, gaining 911 accesses, e-commerce, and breaking into and altering bank account information.
It would be as if all Hell has broken out- once a government or terrorist group had figured out how to do it, and soon others would follow. Remember all the hype over Y2K, and remember all the panic that followed it once it broke out… panic would ensue. Computer crimes can be a threat, but not to the existent that our lives should change in preparation for it to happen. I know all the theories behind the cyber-war capabilities, but we have ound little evidence of its use. With all that we have learned and the technology we poses I feel that a well-placed bomb may still be easier.
Air Force General Richard Myers and Chief of Staff, “If you can degrade an air defense network of an adversary through manipulating ones and zeros, that might be a very elegant way to do it as opposed to dropping 2,000-pound bombs on radars. ” On August 15, 2003 the lights went out for 50 million people. Federal agencies were quick to declare that no terrorism was involved. That is, no vehicle bombings or airplane crashes had a part in the incident.
But lets hink, what if it was an act of terrorism and it was done buy the use of computers? Caruba) A second incident is on July 30th the Department of Homeland Security issued a warning about a possible attack on computers dealing with Microsoft Windows operating system. Homeland Security officials said that the attack could be made through flaws in the Microsoft operating system. The Department cited evidence that showed that there was an increase in searches for vulnerable computers by unknown sources. They also released information that a group had designed code to gain access to the flawed Windows systems. (Security and Privacy) On August 11, MSBlast, also known as Blaster, Lovsan, and Posa, was released.
Blaster is fast-spreading Internet worm that takes advantage of the afore-mentioned security hole in the Windows operating system. Blaster infiltrates computers as they connect to the Internet. This worm does not use e-mail to get to a computer. It simply scans the Internet for susceptible computers and infects them when they are connected to the Internet. According to Symantec Security, the worm has infected more than 500,000 computers including large corporations such as the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta and the Maryland Motor Vehicles Administration.