Cyber Terrorism: The Past, the Present, and the Future

With so much attention being demanded by terrorism these days, it is a wonder that there have not been any real cases of Cyber Terrorism. Why is this? Should we be worried, or is it all under control?

What Cyber Terrorism Is and Is Not
According to the FBI, cyber terrorism is a premeditated and politically motivated attack against information, computer systems, computer programs and data that results in non-physical violence against noncombatant targets. Simply put, cyber terrorism means using the web to cause real world harm to a noncombatant target, advancing an individual or a group's religious and political goals. This rules out cyber attacks that are not politically motivated (hacking), as well as any attacks on military targets, such as US Armed Forces computers (cyber warfare).

The threat to the general public and to government agencies lies in the fact that cyber terrorists possess the ability to shut down all of the major systems that we depend upon, including the water system and the banking system. The effects that an intrusion upon these systems would have on our nation as a whole are devastating, as they could potentially shut down the entire nation. Cyber terrorism may not pose an immediate physical threat to the population, but it certainly poses a threat to Internet users. That is why there are now many agencies, and homeland security degree programs working to make our Internet based systems terrorist-proof, and thus protect the entire world against a ruinous attack that could affect any country that shares an Internet connection.

Cyber Attacks In The Past
In 2004, a group of hackers in Romania gained access to the computers that control the life systems of a research station in the Antarctic. The culprits were stopped before any damage was done. Some argued that the incident should not be classified as cyber terrorism but as a cyber crime instead, since it was not politically motivated. The fact remains though that if it their mission had been accomplished, the lives of 58 people in the station would have been endangered.