Dalhart Dobbs

Mr. Palcsey

Honors English 10

February 25, 2019

Cyber-Terrorism in a Technologically Expanding World

In today's world, computers and technology are a vital aspect of every facet of society,

tech-filled banking, warfare, and automation are open to the ever-growing threat of terrorists

attacking through technology. “Common mechanisms enhancing security and protecting one’s

own information are cryptography, authentication, or authorization” (Janczewski, 319). The

critical infrastructures recognized by homeland security are Agriculture, Food, Water, Public

health, Emergency services, Government, Defense industrial base, Information and

telecommunications, Energy, Transportation, Banking and finance, Chemical industry and

hazardous materials, Postal and shipping, social media, and Real estate according to Lech

Janczewski (87) and Dorothy Denning (2). Almost every computing device and activity creates

temporary or long term data that can be hacked (Janczewski, 398).

Computers that manage the recognized critical infrastructures can be targeted and cause a

domino effect that can hurt many people, many of the computers can be targeted from anywhere

in the world through wireless internet. Computing systems control the management of power

plants, dams, the North American power grid, air traffic control systems, food, and energy

distribution, and the financial system, all essential to survival (Janczewski 229). “The reliance of
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these sensitive physical installations and processes on the IT infrastructure makes that

infrastructure itself critical and in the national interest to safeguard” (Janczewski 384).

In the year 2003, it was possible to get an emp (electromagnetic pulse) for only $400

USD, it was able to fry anything electronic in a nearby radius, more specifically anything with an

electromagnet, the availability has only gone up (Kontaxis 19). Modern technologies are making

almost everyone open to the threat of surveillance and theft of personal information. “Employers

can read e-mail, look at workers’ computer files and eavesdrop on phone calls,” (Janczewski

174). Many companies also have cameras monitoring their employees all day; employees

usually do not have access to their own electronic data. Keystroke recording software has

existed almost since the first computers, these programs save all keyboard use and store the

information typed onto the device itself (Janczewski 176). Anti-spy programs can detect and

remove software keystroke recorders to protect vulnerable individuals.

In 2000 and 2004 waves of distributed denial-of-service attacks against large and popular

web pages like Yahoo, Google, Double-click, Alta Vista, and others began occurring

(Janczewski 262). Distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks are used to harm commercial

web sites directly. In an empirical study by Ernst & Young, 23% of the respondents indicated

that DDoS attacks resulted in an unexpected outage of critical systems in 2003, many of the

respondents were large companies that almost every owner of a electronic device visits regularly.

(Janczewski 263) Another method of computer systems surveillance is outside keystroke

logging, they are hidden or sent back to the attacker, the attacker can use the information to find

passwords and financial information.

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There are often combinations of terrorism and cyber-terrorism, such as causing a physical

danger and disrupting emergency services. “Many system analysts/designers do not consider it

their job to include security in the design of a system or application, leaving or trusting security

to the network technicians” (Janczewski 241-242). In 2007, cyber-attacks in Estonia shut down

government and banking systems, the attack was compared to a cyber 9/11 (Herzog 50-51). The

military pressure on the al-Qaeda leadership in Afghanistan after 9/11 has dramatically increased

the role of internet use and attacks in global terrorist organizations (Janczewski 360). In recent

years distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks are used, which make any website vulnerable,

using the vulnerable data from hundreds or thousands of computer systems, they can attack with

unprecedented power (Janczewski 263).

“A special and universal Trojan horse is a specialized piece of code that is purpose-built

to attack a particular computer system in such a way that it allows the attacker unauthorized and

universal access to the victim computer system.” Password leaks have become more common

due to increased technology, insider leaks, bug exploitation, and SQL injection. SQL injection

can be compared to DDoS attacks because they directly target systems and are almost impossible

to stop. “In 2005 the impact of viruses on the world amounted to 14.2 Billion USD” (Janczewski

30). Viruses are often times sent through DDoS or SQL injection, which make many systems

vulnerable. Through gathering almost all information attainable in a computer system, hackers

can view all possible vulnerabilities in both software and hardware to infiltrate almost any

system (Janczewski 121).

“Members of the President’s Information Technology Advisory Committee (PITAC)

believe that terrorists will inevitably follow suit, taking advantage of vulnerabilities, including
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some that the nation has not yet clearly recognized or addressed” (Gable 103). Terrorist groups

become more aware of the damage they can cause by attacking information systems, especially

when governments depend on the information. Another way that people can destroy

governments is through destroying commerce. Growing e-commerce and finance increase fear

of an attack, in current years e-commerce has become almost equal to regular commerce

(Janczewski 135). Attacks on banks have been on the rise, being particularly dangerous because

banks hold not only monetary assets but also large amounts of personal information (Janczewski

85,86). PayPal is a secure method of payment that stores information encrypted on servers that

do not connect to the internet in secure facilities, protected from SQL injection and DDoS attacks

which both require a wireless connection (Janczewski 134). Cryptocurrency is on the rise, it is a

virtual currency which is backed by 100% gold deposits in physical form, untraceable, also

unhackable. Prepaid money cards are also used in money laundering in a similar way to

cryptocurrency, as well as offshore banking accounts. They do not contain any personal or

physical contacts to their owners, making them untraceable and difficult to hack because they

cannot be pinpointed. These payment methods can be referred to as terrorism financing.

SQL (Structured Query Language) injections are a growing threat to electronic safety,

adding to the already present threat of DDoS attacks. The SQL injection attack is one of the most

serious threats for cyber-security experts. SQL code poisoning attacks are a serious concern for

web application developers as they can be used to break into systems that are supposed to be

secure and alter data (Janczewski 168). The bio-cyber machine gun (BCMG) is a defensive tool

used to protect the misuse of authentication and access control. It also aids in information hiding

through biological passwords (Janczewski 338). The BCMG can protect against many kinds of
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attacks, an early use of what we see today in cellphones such as fingerprint, face, and other

biometric means of identification. Many new technologies are coming out to confront hackers

and to prevent cyber-attacks. Anti-spy programs can detect and remove software keystroke

recorders and other spying programs, SpyCop10 can detect over 300 keystroke recording

programs, some of the simplest means of information theft. Some antivirus programs specifically

seek out trojan horse software by identifying key markers that point out these fraudulent

programs (Gable 159). Corporations should have fail safes and backups in case of a cyber

emergency to protect and defend against an attack. (Janczewski, 268). An intelligent software

agent is a new program designed to appear as a human online to become easy targets for

attackers and shut down their systems by hacking the hacker and in some cases finding their

physical location. To uncover hackers, victims need to trace back the transmission path from the

target server to the attacker.

When a crime is committed, the police resort to scientific methods in order to track down

the culprit. “These methods largely rely on traces that have been left unconsciously or

unintentionally, either on or around the victim, this is not the case with cyber-attackers, but the

punishment is just as harsh,” (Janczewski, 397). Some petty cyber-theft crimes can face

imprisonment up to 5 years and/or high fines (Janczewski, 147). “There are increased accounts

of webcams being hacked and sensitive information being threatened to be published without a

ransom” (Machuletz 79). These types of crime do not give much information about the attackers

and they often go untraced and unpunished. The only way to stay safe from attackers is to

download antivirus software, cover webcams, and take the right precautions so that cyber attacks
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do not ruin lives. Certain precautions protect against any kinds of attacks and are necessary to

defend all virtual databases and informational systems that defend the world and its economies.
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Works Cited

Denning, Dorothy E. Terror's Web: How the Internet is Transforming Terrorism. Calhoun: The

NPS Institutional Archive, 2010, Monterey California. 2

Gable, Kelly. Cyber-Apocalypse Now: Securing the Internet Against Cyberterrorism and Using

Universal Jurisdiction as a Deterrent. Vanderbilt Journal of Transitional Law, 2010,

Nashville, Tennessee. 103, 159

Janczewski, Lech. Cyber Warfare and Cyber Terrorism. Information Science Reference, 2008,

Hershey, New York. 30, 85, 86, 87, 121, 134, 135, 147, 168, 174, 176, 241, 242, 262,

263, 268, 338, 360, 384, 398

Kontaxis, Georgios. SAuth: Protecting User Accounts from Password Database Leaks.

Colombia University, 2013, New York, New York. 19

Machuletz, Steve. Overview and Analysis of Cyber Terrorism. School of Doctoral Studies

European Union Journal, 2011, Brussels Belgium. 79