The Greatest Risk in the U.S - Cyber terrorism

Cyberterrorism is the term used to describe the use of information technology tools or facilities to wreck havoc on the political, socioeconomic, or even ideological fronts of a person's life or in society. The internet is used to maliciously and deliberately disrupt various large-scale networks employing computing tools like viruses when planning and executing cyber terrorism acts (Lewis 2002). Terrorist groups all across the world have recognized the threat that computing and the internet present, promoting their use to wreak havoc and spread panic. Attackers still make use of cutting-edge technological developments in today's terrorism to advance their goals. This knowledge has led the government and other related agencies to take into consideration the likely damages caused by cyber terrorism. The effect of this has been a need to protect the greater public against infiltration by cyber attackers. After the 9-11 attack, the U.S security structure made securing sea, land, and air from infiltration by unauthorized persons its priority. Since then, attackers have also explored different means, as a counter measure, to attack the country and these organizations restructure their strategies to overcome challenges of new threats through cyber terrorism.

Cyber Terrorism as the Greatest Risk in the U.S

According to human nature, people can be easily enraged by circumstances. Information is a particularly very powerful tool in bringing out our weakness of rage. Since the internet is able to effectively relay messages either in coded or explicit forms, it can easily be used to cause a serious miscommunication thereby propagating an enragement either through misinformation, dispensing information, or even disinformation online. The internet has been widely used to pass vital pieces of information to the society. This has been made possible by the farmiliarization of social media platforms such as Whatsapp, Facebook, Twitter, Email, and Skype among others. Due to the potential presented by these social media platforms, terrorists also explore these sites to enrage and cause havoc among the public. Research shows that internet based revolution and activism is one of the most potent ways to connect terror networks aiding them to propagate their interests (Ashley, 2004).In addition, the internet has been widely utilized by terror groups as amedium of campaigning such that they relay their ideologies and policies in a bid to motivate and recruit many followers. This method alone is more effective than any other means any terrorist group has used in the past as many more willing recritees are reached and convinced to join these groups. Therefore, it is very efficient as the groups receive a lotof acclaim from those who support their ideologies. It has also been effective because it provides a platform for them to denounce the government annonimously and announce their malicious plans, as some terrorist groups actually do, thus causing panic and even instigating fear. In so doing, the terror groups fuel extreme dislike for America and its citizens. There have also been increased cases of fraudulent activity from terrorists seeking to disseminate malicious actions online.

The internet has been actively used for activism by the civil society, politicians, human rights activists and even ordinary people to bring the attention of the public to a certain issue. For this reason, the internet has played a beneficial role in the contemporary society. For instance, environmental educators and activists have used the internet to inform the world about the benefits of being mindful to the environment.Numerous campaigns in an aim to aid the environment have been successfully introduced and executed through the use of the internet from tree planting initiatives to gargabe collection drives around neighbourhoods and communities. It has allowed for the public to come to mass action so that we can solve environmental issues collaboratively. The web makes things easier by giving the public a pedestal to maketheir voices effective through the expression of their perspectives and opinions. The internet was created for the positive opportunities it presented as a powerfool tool for humanity’s morallly upright upbringing. The internet was created as a means of sending and receiving messages across states, countries, and even continents. Its creation was purely meant to aid scholars, educators, programmers, and govenments send and recive messages for the benefit of their organizations and the country as a whole. However, the forces of impunity have also found an opportunity to propagate their ill intentions. They have explored the internet in a divergent way, and used it to causegrave damage to the people, environment, and even the property in our society. Due to the efficiency of the internet in calling people to action, the government ought to be concerned by the callings made by these terrorist groups through the internet (Ashley, 2004). For instance, cyber activism has been used by terrorist groups successfully to fuel their ill intentions towards the government and citizens of the U.S both within and outside its boundaries.

ISIS, one of the largest and most notorious terrorist groups of our generation, uses the internet effectively to spread their selfish interests and recruit new members globally. Due to the increased watch by major intelligence agencies in the world, ISIS has had to use increased sophisticated means to communicate online is a non-traceable manner. These measures include, working together with hackers and crackers against world governements and anyone who is againsts their ideologies. The ISIS also uses the internet to send their manuals to their followers in an effort to help them conceal their online communications and identities againsts foreign intelligence organizations that are watching them. The group, one of the most sophisticated internet usage terrorist groups there has ever been, target journalists, websites, individuals, and governements with malware either through emails or other internet means to fight against ISIS propaganda.

The group has been particularly targeting activist groups which try to reveal what the group is really doing in Syria. They maim and disable computers, emails, and any other gadgets connected to the internet that is being used againsts them. A group known as Raqqa, which operates from within Raqqa, capital of self-declared ISIS caliphate, has been on the receiving end of ISIS attacks. This is due to Raqqa’s activities within Raqqa in trying to expose the terrorists groups to the world. Despite U.S intelligence agencies saying that they are active within ISIS communication channels and Twitter’s recent campaign to kick off multiple ISIS accounts off their website, ISIS has so far grown stronger and sharper. This has expounded to the extent of using malware and other sophisticated means to spread their malice online and recruit new members. Like ISIS, many other terrorist groups are growing smarter and are seeking a means to propagate their agenda against world governments and the media, and the internet provides the perfect breeding ground for such activities.

Cyber terrorism also poses a big threat of attacks to the country’s ordinary citizens from the sympathizers and members of terrorist groups. The government has very strict opinions about the olicy issues concerning war and terrorism which makes the citizens more vulnerable to attacks than any other country in the world. This knowledge has instilled fear in the citizens, affecting different parts of their lives.Some citizens have also suffered directly, because they have fallen victims to terrorist attacks both in andoutside the United States. Thecyber terrorism attacks on individuals is usually targeted to those who are against the cause of the terrorist attaks and their sympethizers. It involves infringement of a victim’s personal data, such that the information is used to instill fearor cause physical harm. These groups employ well-trained and skilled people who can hack social media accounts and even use the internet todisrupt the lifeof the victims.

The contemporary society is highly dependent on the internet, such that we have synced the access to financial, health, and even otherimportant aspects of our lives through the internet. We have also adopted the internet of things, such that all our devices and appliances can be operated remotely. By gaining access to personal information, citizens are at risk because terrorist groups have access to different amenities in their lives and thus can choose to cause harm in any way they please. For this reason, cyber terrorism is a great risk to the citizens of the U.S, as citizens remain in fear of falling victims to the violation of personal information details, security and even danger from the terror groups. In addition, terror groups are using the internet and the opportunities it presents to recruit citizens of this great country to terror groups, such that their networks within America continue to expand and even consolidate themselves. The effect of this has rendered the country continually unsafe especially within its territories. American youths continue to join these groups because the terror networks are so appealing on social media platforms. Confidence in the american public can only be restored if th authorities put in extra efforts to counteract the the imminent threats posed by terror networks. For instance, this can be achieved through the use of advanced screening technologies so as to assure that tools of computing and informatics are used safely throughout the country.(Ashley, 2004).

In addition, cyber terrorism also poses a great risk to infrastructure since it can be exploited to create havoc and panic. This is done through the creation of strategic vulnerability against the American government. For instance, terrorism groups have in the past managed to access the confidential data and information belonging to the state thus violating the American government secrecy order protected under the Fourth Amendment. After the successful access, the country experienced widespread havoc and panic especially within the publicx and even the state agencies and authorities.

Terror groups have advanced the techniques they have used in the past to gain access to confidential or even vital information concerning the government and its running. For example, the terrorist groups and networks have been reported to use wiretapping technologies which allow them to wiretap phone conversations between the government agencies and authorities. The goal of the wiretapsis to establish how these groups and their sympathizers can us to penetratethe countris security systems. In addition, they have also employed the consistent use of internettrackers so as to obtain internet information that can be used to infring the confidential data and information that belongs to the state (Etzioni, 2004). They have also invested heavily in technological adavancements that are fast an efficient snd this gives these terrorist groups an ability to directy interfere with the country’s national and confidential data through the use of the internet as an instrument of impersonation.

The highly advanced technologies can also be used by terror groups to mimic the government thus gaining access to data and information on both private and public companies. By mimicking the government, these terror groups propagate their agendas through the evasion of search warrants within the state, which risks allowing their members to infiltrate every corner of the country. They have also used this strategy of impersonating the governmen to obtain the required entry papers into the country so as to see their mission of instilling fear and wreking havoc to completion. The information obtained through this fraudulent use of the internet is then used to violate different rights as well as to commit economic crimes of a country. In addition, this startegy has been widely used by terror groups to access communications and information such as bank records, purchase records, credit card information, and data fro institutions such as schools, colleges and libraries to make people panic and wrek havoc in America (Hoffman, 2015).

Regardless of the risks posed, the American security forces continue to put more efforts and invest more into fighting the menace of cyber terrorism and the risks it poses. Before theAl-Qaeda attack during 9-11, the government had weak terrorism security but it has since invested in more efficient and able technologies to eradicate the menace and clear the risks it poses. In today’s society, the country is able to distinguish a threat from a falsealarm long before the terrorist activity. America is better prepared to deal with any risks of cyber terrorism by investing in systems that can detect, frustrate,prevent, and defeat any risks of terrorism with immeasurable resilience. This has given the country the ability to identify its enemies before they strike and prevent their potential attacks, keeping thecountry and its citizens safe from its enemies. The U.S Security Council has put measures in place to safeguard the country and protect its citizens against cyber terrorism and infiltration from the country’s enemies (Wilson, 2003). The measures it has put are also aimed at ensuring that America maintains its positive international relations with other countries of the world withot compromising the security systems they have installed.

Conclusion

Cyber terrorism poses a the greatest risk to the security and peace of the U. S and its citizes leading the nations authorities and agencies to grop with resolutions to limit the impacts of cyber attacks. The immense nature of the risk posed by cyber terrorism is based on the fact that the attacks have been made to target the civilians, making them the pawn agenda of the interests of these terrorists. The concept of cyber terrorism is significantly facilitated by the fact that the American Society and humanity in general needs to interact. The intervention of the internet to solve make human interaction more efficient regardless of distance has poroven to be a blessing in disguise for the terror groups that rely on the opportunity of cyber activism. The contemporary global society relies considerably on the internet for social, economic and even political impacts. Interfering with the cyberspace of the american society is a threat enough to the well-being of the country, as it can easily cause panic and wrek havoc in society. The American government, and its authorities and agencies therefore have to be adequately prepared to deal with attempts on cyber terrorism, thus securing the country’s cyberspace and assuring the citizens peace and security. Cyber terrorism is also a great risk because it is a limitless opportunity of attacking the U.S’s cyber space, because ensuring security goes beyond manning the secure borders of the country. The world has, since the advent of technology, been globalized and reduced to a global village, meaning that the risk of cyber terrorism is an iminent one as instilling fear, causing panic, and wreking havoc is an easy task that can be achieved behind a keyboard. While there are numerous advantages and opportunities in the use of technology, when the same technology and cyberspace is attacked by malicious individuals, the magnitude and aim of the attack is extremely detrimental. Preventing and keeping cyber terrorism under control in a great economy like that of the United States of America requires serious levels of cyber surveillance. Surveillance ensures that the impeding threats of the misuse of technology are averted, preventing the negative impacts resultant from cyber attacks.













References

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