US expert says no such thing as cyber terrorism yet
Date: June 15, 2004Source: INQ7.net
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There have been no cases of cyber attacks that can be strictly labeled cyber terrorism, said Dorothy Denning, a professor of the department of defense analysis at the US Naval Postgraduate School.
Denning, who is also a member of the Center for the Study of Terrorism and Irregular Warfare, said that while terrorists and their supporters had been using information technology, particularly cyberspace, to communicate with each other, plan their activities, and spread propaganda about their cause -- she had yet to encounters cyber attacks that aimed to incite fear in the intended target.
"There is really no cyber terrorism but there is web defacement, worm attacks, etc. But they don't exactly incite fear. They are disruptive though," she said.
Reports of terrorist groups launching cyber terror attacks remained speculative, she said.
"To say that cyber terrorism already exists is still speculation. But there are some concerns that the al-Qaeda, for instance, will eventually develop the capability to launch cyber attacks," she said.
In a paper titled "Is Cyber Terrorism Coming," Denning admitted that there has been an increasing number of cyber attacks in recent years.
"I don't think it (cyberterrorism) exists yet, so we are really talking about something that is hypothetical," Denning said. "Cyber attacks don't have the psychological fallout that physical attacks have."
But as technology, particularly cyberspace, becomes increasingly tied to physical infrastructure, cyber attacks can likely lead to damage of property and eventually death, she said.
The Philippine Congress is now working on an anti-terrorism law, that will make cyber terrorism and other forms of terrorism a criminal act.
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