Basic concept of Cyber Terrorism and Cyber crimes

 Most people would say they know what terrorism is, but surprisingly there is no internationally agreed definition. There is literally hundreds of different definitions incurrent use with the use of violence or threat of violence being the only general common theme. The only other elements to appear in more than 50% of definitions are “Political” and “fear, terror emphasized”. This is a hamper on international cooperation as some terrorist organizations are seen as legitimate fighters by some countries. Terrorism does differ from other crimes in its mens rea; it is done with a purpose and a specific strategic outcome in mind.

If there has been significant international and intellectual disagreement about a definition for terrorism itself, the disagreement as to what, if anything, constitutes Cyber Terrorism is even more diverse. This paper will consider the battle against terrorism in Cyberspace, Cyber Terrorism as a form of attack and the terrorist use of the Internet as a tool for physical action. It will also consider areas of both anti and counter terrorism within a cyber-environment.

It is important that we consider who the terrorists are. There are literally hundreds of groups of varying size and ability, which, to some extent, warrant the label of terrorists Terrorism has 4 classic motivations. Firstly there are single-issue terrorists, those who believe in a particular cause and are prepared to use violence to protest their message in the hope of ending the issue, which sparks their grievance. Animal Rights and Anti-Choice over abortion are the two most prevalent of such issues. Vivisection researchers or family planning workers have been the targets of sustained campaigns and assassinations in protest over these issues. Although generally small and with a low lethality rate, these groups could find the cyber world particularly to their liking as in the cyber environment they can effectively punch above their weight. Ideological Terrorists are those who use violence to promote their political ideology, usually from the far left or right. While these groups were most active in the Cold War, there are still several of such groups still active and other active groups that have evolved from their beginnings as an Ideological Terrorist group.

Nationalist terrorists have been the most lethal of all terrorist groups over the last 40years and are still active in several major campaigns worldwide. These are terrorist groups who seek independence from a state or to cede from one state to another because of ethnic or geographic grievances. Very few modern nations are made up of just one ethnic group and in many areas of the world this has led to ethnic tensions that have spilled over into terrorism. The LTTE in Sri Lanka and the PKK Kongra/Gel terrorist organization in Turkey are the most active of such groups.

Religio-Political terrorist groups tend to be more lethal as they believe they are acting for God or on a divine order and that those not of their belief are against God. There are extremist groups spanning all major religions and some minor cults who have resorted to terrorism.

These terrorists have abused their religion and act outside it; they must not be confused with the religion they misrepresent in their claims. Although many religions do accept that there are circumstances for justifiable violence or warfare, none, with the exception of a doomsday cult such as Aum Shinrikyo, would apply this to the indiscriminate targeting of civilians or security forces outside the legal conventions of legitimate warfare.

As with any definition labeling model, there can be hybrid terrorist groups that either evolve their motivations or have multiple aims. The Provisional IRA are an example, they were a Nationalist group as they wanted Northern Ireland to cede from the United Kingdom to the Irish Republic but were also an Ideological group as they wanted Ireland to become a Socialist state.

The terrorists themselves must be considered, understanding their psychology  is important in understanding how to defeat them. There is no clear profile of a terrorist, they come from all walks of life and have varying levels of education, employment and wealth. One common factor is that they are not mentally unstable, terrorist organizations want activists with the ability to think and be reliable. The level of intelligence may decide the role of the terrorist, as will any specialist skills such as chemistry or IT, and the organization will require College level members as well as those with more basic standards of education. We must accept that most terrorist groups are made of skilled and intelligent people who are acting out of genuine belief (self-formed or indoctrinated) and not a group of clueless idiots. This must be considered in the cyber defense plan against terrorism; they will study, take time, plan and employ experts of the highest caliber to achieve their aim.

Priyadarshini Tiwari

Assistant professor