NCJ Number
192080
Date Published
2001
Length
20 pages
Annotation
This chapter describes the threat of cyberterrorism.
Abstract
The majority of electronic attacks involve amateurs who have copied programs from the Internet or from their friends. The attackers, mostly of school age, can and have caused damages running in the millions of dollars. Other hackers attack computer systems merely for the thrill of the attack itself. Hackers can gain access by opening a “back door,” inserting a “Trojan Horse,” and using viruses and worms to destroy or alter data. Cyberextortion, used mostly in Europe, is a criminal activity that occurs when an individual or group threatens to destroy data files of a company if a certain fee is not paid or an action by the company is not undertaken. Aside from the “Love Bug,” which caused billions of dollars in damage to computer systems, the “Denial-of-Service” (DOS) attacks occurring in 1999 and 200 have been the most devastating. Most experts feel that military installations, power plants, air traffic control centers, banks, and telecommunication networks are the most likely targets for a cyberterrorist attack. The vulnerability of technologically advanced countries such as the United States to cyberattacks became acutely apparent through government studies of the Y2K problem in 1999. The interdependence of electric power, banking, and telecommunications makes protection against electronic intrusion vital to the continuation of an advanced society. It was estimated that by the end of the year 2000, 90 percent of all criminals would be computer literate. There has never been a greater need for joint government and private industry cooperation to meet what will likely be the next great threat to the security of the Nation’s infrastructure. Recent technology has enabled government agencies to electronically search an attacking computer for evidence of the attack, and the potential is not limited to purely defensive methods. 32 endnotes