Page 130 - Encyclopedia Of Terrorism

C-Kushner.qxd 26-10-02 10:37 AM Page 104

104———Cyberterrorism

protection of critical infrastructure for the National believed to have been perpetrated by hackers in
Security Council, stated that cyberattacks could act as a China.
“force multiplier” for a bombing or attack either by Though CIA director John Deutch warned in
posting false information on the Internet to create panic 1996 of an upcoming “electronic Pearl Harbor,”
or by sabotaging financial, emergency, or communi- little, thus far, has supported that claim. Most believe
cation networks. In 1997, the Clinton administration’s that hacking will be used as a “weapon of mass dis-
Commission on Critical Infrastructure Protection con- ruption” in conjunction with traditional terrorist
cluded that electronic money transfers, the power grid, attacks, while skeptics argue that cyberterror offers
911 services, and military command sites were also little to traditional terrorists, due to the lack of
vulnerable to cyberattack. The study stated, “Our drama and small likelihood of significant injury or
dependence on the information and communications death, but also because traditional terrorist tools,
infrastructure has created new cyber-vulnerabilities, such as suicide bombings, are still quite effective.
which we are only starting to understand.” According to Frank Cilluffo, of the Center for
In response to the commission’s finding, in May Strategic and International Studies in Washington,
1998 President Clinton issued an order to create the “Bits and bytes are never going to replace bullets
National Infrastructure Protection Center, to protect and bombs.” Nevertheless, a coordinated cyberat-
vital national systems, such as telecommunication tack against certain infrastructures, such as the com-
networks and the power grid, and to upgrade govern- puters that control and coordinate airplanes or the
ment computer security. One of Clinton’s officials, ones that run the stock market, could cause signifi-
Richard Clarke, has continued under the Bush admin- cant havoc.
istration to deal directly with the threat of cyberterror.
See also ASYMMETRICAL WARFARE
He was named special adviser for cybersecurity to the
president shortly after the September 11, 2001, terror-
ist attacks. Further Reading
Today, the U.S. government faces daily cyberas- Aldrich, Richard W. Cyberterrorism and Computer
saults on its computers and Web sites. Attacks against Crimes: Issues Surrounding the Establishment of an
Department of Defense computers rose from less International Regime. Colorado Springs, CO: USAF
than 1,000 in 1997 to nearly 23,000 in 1999. A series Institute for National Security Studies, 2000.
of cyberattacks on high-level businesses and the Alexander, Yonah, and Michael S. Swetnam, eds. Cyber
Pentagon, beginning in 1998, is believed to be linked Terrorism and Information Warfare. Dobbs Ferry, NY:
to organized crime in Russia. Currently, American Oceana, 1999.
Arquilla, John, and David Ronfeldt, eds. Networks and
hackers are engaged in a “cyberwar” with their
Netwars: The Future of Terror, Crime, and Militancy.
Chinese counterparts (which thus far has consisted of
Santa Monica, CA: RAND, 2001.
little more than defacing the other country’s Web
Global Organized Crime Project. Cybercrime—Cyber-
sites). Of more concern are espionage-like hacks into
terrorism—Cyberwarfare: Averting an Electronic
sensitive information systems, such as the 1998 hack Waterloo. Washington, DC: CSIS, 1998.
into NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and forays Yourdon, Edward. Byte Wars: The Impact of September 11
into large-scale sabotage, such as the 2000 hack into on Information Technology. Upper Saddle River, NJ:
one of California’s electrical transmitting stations, Prentice Hall PTR, 2002.