Cyber Terrorism and Information Warfare
Introduction
Cyber or information warfare and cyber terrorism are some of the fastest growing technological threats today around the world. While these two concepts relates to the use of computers and information technology, their application, purpose andor intentions are very different and so are their economic value. They also vary in their definitions and usage. Cyber warfare or information warfare basically refers to the use of computers and internet services with an aim of conducting warfare acts against different websites andor internet groups. This may include distributing propaganda, defacing websites, denial of service attacks distribution and collecting classified data using the internet among other warfare acts. This differs from cyber terrorism which refers to politically motivated and premeditated attacks on information, computer programs, computer systems, as well as data which in turn leads to violence being perpetrated against noncombatant targets by clandestine agents or sub-national groups. Cyber terrorism affects not only the systems using the cyber but it can also entail physical hardware attacks making up the systems of a computer. While there are two different concepts, cyber terrorism and cyber warfare have some similarities as well (Brenner, 2006).
This paper will begin by giving an in-depth analysis of cyber warfare or information warfare and cyber terrorism concepts. The second part will deal with the similarities and differences between cyber warfare and cyber terrorism.
Information warfare and cyber terrorism
Cyber terrorism is in real sense a subset of cyber warfare mainly because it employs cyber warfare weapons. However, to understand the differences and similarities of cyber terrorism and cyber warfare, it is essential to note the differences between terrorism and warfare, their motivations and their manifestations. Terrorism refers to the acts committed for either economic or political motives. In most cases, crime is usually committed so as to gain economically. However, terrorism may be committed not purely for economic gains but for some particular political goals. Terrorism unlike warfare which does not aim at civilians has the intention of demoralizing civilians and this is usually accomplished in the physical or real threat. It is exhibited via property destruction and killing of the civilian population with an aim of sending a political message to a government like was the case of the September 11 attacks in the United States (Hutchinson, n. d).
Cyber warfare or information warfare
Information warfare refers to actions that are taken in order to gain information superiority through affecting the information of the adversary, adversarys information systems, their information based process and also their computer based networks with an intention of defending or protecting the attackers own information, information systems, computer based networks, information based process and information systems.
However, there is no single official definition of information war that exists today. Cyber warfare technically means the use of computers with an aim of engaging in activities of warfare by targeting or harming cyberspace groups or websites and this move is motivated by selfish gains. Some of the forms of cyber warfare include false information circulation, vandalizing websites, service attacks rejection and misguiding, propaganda and false accusation propaganda and lastly collecting classified information or data from the internet commonly referred to as cyber space. South Korea is one of the countries that are currently experiencing cyber attacks that are aimed at paralyzing some of its major websites. Some of the targets include national newspaper and one of its biggest banks. The United States is also said to be experiencing such attacks with pentagon and White House being the major targets. These are real world cases of information warfare that might have adverse effects on the operations of these two countries. The United States and South Korea speculates that North Korea is behind such attacks with rumors stating that this country has a military unit that has employed over one thousand experienced hackers for such work. However, no evidence has so far been produced to fully link North Korea with the cyber space attacks (Brenner, 2006).
Denial of service kind of attack is the most common type of information warfare especially amongst states. In the year 2007, April, Estonia experienced cyber attacks whereby a series of attacks were experienced on different Estonian organizations such as ministries, banks, the Estonian parliament, broadcasters and newspapers, a warfare that was waged by Russia following disagreements on Bronze Soldier of Tallinn relocation. Citizens experienced denial of service and spamming. This is one of the most devastating form of attacks that attracted most countries and military planners of many countries. It was a cyber warfare that had been state-sponsored and the second largest to have occurred in the world after the titan rain (Marszaleka, 2008).
Expectations of security analysts and researchers are today being overcome by cyber warfare in many nations given the intensity of its growth. Cyber warfare has high level of precision and strategic target results hence its impact should not be lowly regarded owing to its flexibility and difficulties in detecting it. Cyber warfare is a low cost endeavor and this has allowed hiring and training of individuals thus complicating its impact especially in battle fields. In the past, strategic operations of battle were being carried out manually by use of papers and alter in action. However, these traditional modes of developing weapons have changed and are today being substituted by technology such as smart computers and GPS or the global positioning satellites. Today, about 99.9 of all successful activities are being conducted by smart computers and artificial intelligence software while only 70 of activities are being carried out by human beings. This has led to an increase of cyber warfare among countries, individuals and corporations (Acharya, n. d).
Types of information warfare
In most cases, when information warfare is mentioned, we tend to think of nations waging cyber war against each other. However, corporations and individuals also wage information war against each other. There are three classes or classifications of information warfare individual warfare, economic warfare and global information warfare. Personal information warfare refers to the attacks that are perpetrated against the electronic privacy of an individual. It entails several incidents such as digital records disclosure and entries of databases in information storage areas or sites. Today, individuals have very little control of stored information in their own private computers especially private information. Unlike in the past where spies were required to use microphones and miniature cameras to solicit information concerning an individual, this has dramatically changed owing to an improvement of and advancement of technology thus increasing the information warfare threat in our society. Individuals have today been using information warfare to blackmail other people or even to destroy their reputation. It is easier to solicit private information from the databases and use it for ones own gain which is in most cases to destroy their enemies or individuals considered a threat to their success. It is also easier to edit private information of a person stored in various databases for malicious purposes, usually for economic gain or with an aim of destroying another person (Olmstead Siraj, 2009).
Corporate information warfare is the second class of cyber warfare present today. This type of cyber warfare is evident by the corporations wars being experienced today courtesy of technological advancement. Today, companies are investing heavily in information technology systems so as to be able to break into the database of their competitors and in turn copy such data worth more than what they had invested in.
Corporate information warfare is meant to give a company a competitive edge by either destroying the competitive strategies of the competitor or taking the innovative strategies of the competitors before they are able to implement them first. In this form of warfare, the perpetrator company, after copying the desired data may either destroy that database or simply leave it the way it was. This form of information warfare was evidenced during the cold war between the American and Russian where spies from both countries tried to collect information concerning their enemies with an aim of destroying each other (Haeni, 1997).
Corporate information warfare does not just entail information acquisition but also for the purposes of spreading fictitious or real information that has the capability of destroying the adversary or the competitor. For example, a company may begin false accusation pertaining to the quality and safety of its competitors goods and pass such information to the consumers. This as a result leads to lack of confidence of such products by the public and their subsequent withdrawal from the market place as further investigations are carried out. While this is being done, consumers shift to the products of the other company hence increasing their sales. One disadvantage of corporate information warfare is that it is difficult to prove that it is the competitor who has stolen the information from a company even when the harmed company is almost sure about it. Corporate information warfare is very common today and is being targeted on corporations as a whole or their leaders especially those believed to be influential in an industry. One of the major causes of increased corporate information warfare is use of computer chips to control most of the processes in an organization. This has made it easier for criminals to tamper with the original intentions of the manufacturers hence intensifying corporate information wars (Rogers, n. d).
The last type of information warfare is the global information warfare. This is the most dangerous form of information warfare as it is perpetrated by economic forces at a global level against a country or a state. This does not merely mean sneaking to competitors and stealing their research data but it entails theft of internal secrets of a nation and using such information to fight the owners of it. This form of information warfare is employed by nations to destroy their adversaries or countries believed to be a threat to a nation. While the first two forms of information warfare are mainly intended for economic gains, global information warfare may not be for economic gain but rather for political or social gain or influence. In actual sense, countries using this form of information warfare use a lot of money so as to destroy their political enemy (Sproles Byars, n. d).
Information warfare weapons
Information warfare can be perpetrated using various computer weapons. Computer viruses are the major weapons used during information warfare. A virus refers to a fragment of a code that if introduced to a computer, it copies itself on the larger computer programs and modifies the original programs. The execution of a virus takes place when the targeted host program commences running. After attacking one program, the virus has the capability of replicating itself and corrupting or infecting all other computer programs where it is attached as well as the networks connected to the host program. In todays technological era, most of the individuals using computers have an idea of what viruses are and the harm they are capable of doing to an organization or a state. Due to their severity intensity, viruses have become an attractive weapon for information warfare. While using this form of weapon, a nation, state or corporation simply inserts a virus to the enemys switching networks using the phone system especially because most of the systems of phones today are connected or switched by computers hence transferring them to the computer system and other networks. Any data that comes into contact with the virus is corrupted and cannot be repaired. The aim of computer viruses is to destroy the information source of a nation or company (Rayamajhi, 2009).
Worms are the second weapon used in information warfare. A worm refers to an independent program that reproduces itself by copying to a particular fashion of a computer in full-blown and affects all other computers connected to such a computer. It is different from a computer in that it does not lead to modification of other programs within a system. Also, unlike the viruses, worms never destroy information or data in a system but they are capable of curtailing communication as they eat resources within a system and spread to via the networks. Perpetrators using this form of weapon simply modify the works leading to data deletion from a system. This is very detrimental for nations or corporations (OHara Ayers, n. d).
Trojan horses are the third weapon employed in information warfare. Trojan horse refers to a fragment of a code that carries out a disguised function while hiding inside a computer program. It is usually camouflaged or appears as a tool related to security such as SATAN or the security administration tool for analyzing networks. The role of SATAN is to check systems of UNIX for security holes and it is offered freely on cyber space or the internet. Editing of SATAN in a manner that makes it to send any security holes discovered in email messages enables the person who edits it (commonly referred to as a cracker or a hacker) to be notified of such security holes which he in turn uses to attack the unsuspecting adversary. Since Trojan horses hide themselves in programs, they are not easily detected making the effective information warfare weapons. Trojan horses allow the crackers to solicit information pertaining vulnerability of servers and hosts. Trojan horses that are cleverly written do not usually leave any mark or traces and they also do not cause damages that can be detected (Sudworth, n. d).
Logic bombs are also used as information warfare weapons. It is a special form of Trojan horse that is used in releasing works and viruses to a system. It can either be planted by a programmer or be an independent program. This program is installed during manufacture of a system to allow a company or government be notified of critical information that passes through such a system. Other weapons include trap doors, chipping, nano machines and microbes, electronic jamming, denial of service, and high energy radio frequency guns (Gordon, n. d).
Users of information warfare
While use of information warfare has intensified today, the exact people using it and the branch of military employing it is officially unknown. There are no public sources pertaining to the usage of information warfare despite it being in high usage especially by some of the military braches and special government agencies. During the Persian Gulf War, the usage of information warfare is not clear the desert storm is one real world experience of use of information weapon. During this war, the CIA dropped many messages in Iraq army headquarters most of them which were fake. They were meant to demoralize the troops of the enemy and to dray them towards the sea. This led to the destruction of the Iraqs headquarters. Technological advancement and use of information warfare is expected to continue increasing in the future. Highly technologized countries are the main engineers of information warfare and this puts a great danger to the less developed countries in terms of technology. Developing information warfare weapons is a costly endeavor and its damages are very disastrous (Webster Borchgrave, n. d).
Cyber terrorism
Cyber terrorism basically refers to the use of computer technology with an aim of perpetrating terrorism acts. The main aim of cyber terrorism is to create terror in a country. The terror that emanates from cyber terrorism is dependent on the perception of the target group on it. United States eastern seaboard electricity saga is an example of the effects that cyber terrorism can have on a population. When power or electricity went off in the eastern seaboard, most individuals believed that this was an action of cyber terrorism and there was panic. However, it was later discovered that it was an error by the electricity company. Fake or real cyber terrorism leads to creation of terror and fear in a community and may cause widespread panic in a country (Hutchinson, n. d).
Computers are today being used as a means of enhancing cyber terrorist threats. Just like in the case of cyber warfare, no official definition has been agreed upon to define cyber terrorism. However, a large part of analysts and writers agree that it is a predetermined, planned and politically motivated attack on computer programs, computer systems, as well as data which in turn leads to violence being perpetrated against noncombatant targets by clandestine agents or sub-national groups. Cyberspace or the internet offers some kind of anonymity that allows individuals or groups to threaten specific groups or citizens of a nation without risking capture or even injury or death that is associated with physical presence. As the name suggests, cyber terrorism is closely linked to terrorism. Terrorism acts are perpetrated not necessarily for economic gains but also for political and social purposes. Cyber terrorism is the use of internet to create or spread terrorist threats in a population thus leading to panic and fear. Basically, cyber terrorism means leveraging of information on target computers through the use of cyber space or the internet with an aim of causing real world and physical harm or to severely disrupt infrastructures (Jahangiri, n. d).
The interest on cyber terrorism by public began in the 1980s following an increase in terrorists attacks and threats of attack. The millennium bug of the year 2000 heightened this uncertainty and fear and this led to an increase of interest pertaining to cyber terrorist attack. While the millennium bug turned out not to be a cyber terrorist attack on the United States, it increased fears of a wider and devastating cyber space attack. Year 2001 attacks on United States intensified the medial coverage of cyber terrorist attacks and it became apparent that United States was a target for larger cyber space terrorism attacks. While the United States has been a victim of cyber terrorist attacks, it is also a perpetrator of the same having used this kind of attack in many wars (Golubev, 2004).
As noted earlier, cyber terrorism is a subset of cyber warfare as it utilizes most of the avenues used by cyber warfare. The only difference between these two concepts lies in the intention of the person or group using it.
Cyber terrorism forms
Privacy violation is the major form or type of cyber terrorism. Privacy law gives individuals some rights over information he or she considers personal. Privacy information can be accessed from the personal computer system of an individual and in turn used to blackmail an individual. This is similar to personal information warfare that uses personal information for economic gain. However, unlike in personal information warfare where a cracker only alters information and later takes or steals the identity of the other person, in cyber terrorism, it is different. Perpetrator s in this case may use any solicited information to threaten a persons life or that of his or her family with an aim of causing fear to make them do as per the terms and conditions of the perpetrator (Marszaleka, 2008).
Similarities and differences between cyber warfare and cyber terrorism
Similarities
One of the major similarities between cyber warfare and cyber terrorism is that both are cyber space based. Cyber warfare and cyber terrorism as their names suggests are only possible in the presence of computer systems and the cyber space or the internet. They make use of the cyber space to interfere with the original format of a system altering it to make it suit or fit the needs of cracker or hacker. They both entail cracking down the normal operations of a system and altering it to make it suit their different needs. Information warfare entails cracking down of the information system of a country, corporation or an individual so as to solicit information or destroy information so as to gain an advantage over the adversary or a competitor.
Cyber terrorism entails altering a computer system with an aim of altering its normal function so as to destroy an adversary or cause fear or panic (Haeni, 1997).
The second similarity of cyber warfare and cyber terrorism is that they are both carried out to protect the interests of the perpetrator or to gain an upper hand over the adversary or competitor. The interests may either be political in nature, economic or social factors. As mentioned above, the major aim of the information warfare is to solicit vital information intended to help the cracker or a system defeat the opponent in various endeavors. The motivators are either to stop the opponent, to blackmail the opponent with information obtained or to avoid being blackmailed by the opponent. The motivating factor in cyber terrorism just like in cyber warfare is to destroy the source of strength of the opponent. Cyber terrorism allows the individuals using it to gain an upper hand in real world war (Rogers, n. d).
Differences
The main difference between cyber terrorism and cyber warfare is the actual and apparent harm that is caused by these forms of attacks. Whereas in cyber terrorism it is possible for violence to take place and thus hurt people or even cause deaths, the same is not likely to occur in cyber warfare in which case only threats are created and loss of highly confidential data and other secrets to the enemies or competitors and in turn use it against the owner. In most cases, cyber warfare involves kinetic attack form of war against the opponent. In this case, cyber warfare is not mostly aimed at causing any actual or physical destruction, it is however designed in such a manner as to affect the process of decision making and desires of the target. In most cases, cyber warfare leads to disinformation or propaganda campaign in which case the target gets much distorted pieces of information that are aimed at luring the victim into making decision with adverse negative effects. It is for this reason that is used as a basic instrument in the arsenal of information warfare to attain attacks that are non-kinetic. On the other hand, cyber terrorism leads to force vs. force involvement between the opposing sides of the war. Unlike in cyber warfare, the forces involved in cyber terrorism are asymmetric. Therefore, suicide bombers can be used to execute the planned cyber terrorist attacks on the opponent (Haeni, 1997).
The costs involved in cyber warfare and cyber terrorism differ substantially. The entry costs involved in cyber warfare are very low. The main and only costs that are involved are the prices of internet connection and computer. Again the varieties of tools applicable in cyber warfare are readily available on several internet sites around the world. Due to the low costs involved in cyber warfare, the number of potential perpetrators of cyber warfare is large. On the other hand, cyber terrorism is a very expensive affair and it can thus be effectively carried out by few well organized and wealthy terrorist organizations such as the Al Qaeda. The main costs are not involved in purchasing computers or accessing internet connectivity, but in hiring experts who are capable of planning cyber terrorist attacks in an effective and efficient manner and thus enable the perpetrators of cyber terrorism to easily cause actual physical damage on the victim as well as causing panic and fear to the targeted state or organization (Sproles Byars, n. d).
Cyber warfare leads to traditional boundaries that are largely blurred, in the creation of its fog of war. With infinite organizations capable of causing cyber warfare, it is very difficult to effectively determine the cyber warfare sources whether originating locally or internationally. In the end, cyber warfare leads to the creation of dilemma in cyber response. Since the origin of the cyber warfare is not clear, cyber response becomes very complicated making the states and organizations that have been victims of cyber warfare to guess the source and respond to it thus causing a lot of confusion. However, in cyber terrorism, most of the operations are very clear. It is not hard to determine the source of a certain attack since in most cases the victim is usually warned in advance of the attack. Therefore, unlike in the case of cyber warfare, in cyber terrorism, the attacker discloses his or her identity and explains the reasons for the attack and in fact threatens to attack once again if his or her demands are not met (Olmstead Siraj, 2009).
Cyber warfare has greatly expanded the perception of management role the perpetrators have the capacity of manipulating public perception effortlessly by changing multimedia files and manufacturing information digitally. The perception of the media is thus continuously detracted by the perpetrators of cyber warfare. Through it, the members of the public are made to think and act according to the desires of the perpetrators of cyber warfare. On the other hand, cyber terrorism is mostly based on the idea of ideologies. Cyber terrorism is mainly aimed at propagating certain ideologies in certain regions of the world. These ideologies might be based on religion, economic policies or be political in nature. The perpetrators of cyber terrorism aim at compelling the targeted victim to adopt the ideologies preferred by the cyber terrorism perpetrators (Acharya, n. d).
There are several difficulties involved in assessing attacks and tactical warnings in cyber warfare attacks as compared to cyber terrorism ones. Due to the availability and ease of tools used in cyber warfare, and the fact that virtually any person can initiate a cyber attack, it is not easy to assess the actual danger posed by such attacks. On the contrary, cyber terrorism attacks are quite easy to assess and develop a tactical warning. This is so due to the fact that not everyone is in a position of launching a cyber terrorist attack. In virtually all cases of cyber terrorist attacks, it is not possible for independent individuals to launch such attacks and they therefore have to be carried out by well organized organizations with both financial and human resources to launch such attacks effectively and efficiently (Brenner, 2006).
Conclusion
Cyber terrorism and warfare are major threats facing the world today, the use of secrets, information and data of the targeted victim. Methods of information warfare have been used for several decades especially during periods of conflicts. Terrorism is not also a new phenomenon in the world. However, with increased internet connectivity and access of computers, these types of crimes have become a major threat across the entire world. While cyber warfare is used in propagating propaganda aimed at distorting some information and thus creates confusion and panic in the country or organization, cyber terrorism is used to plan and execute terrorist attacks against the targeted nation.
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