CYBER TERRORISM

1
CYBER TERRORISM
2

• Cyber terrorism is the premeditated use of
  disruptive activities, or the threat thereof,
  against computers and/or networks, with the
  intention to cause harm or further social,
  ideological, religious, political or similar
  objectives, or to intimidate any person in
  furtherance of such objectives

3

• Business, government and industry have all become
  addicted to information. Their reliance on
  information creates opportunities for terrorism.
  Imagine a day without the Internet. What would
  the impact be? Computer networks do more than
  systems --they run the business of daily life the
  nature of cyber security threats pose not only to
  critical infrastructures but ultimately to the
  economy and the citizens

4

• More than just e-Commerce transactions flow over
  the Internet .e Mail, voice communications, some
  banking machines, credit card authorizations for
  physical stores and the list goes on and on.
  Information is the life blood of commerce,
  regulatory oversight and even social status.

5

• The importance of the information and the ability
  to access it, transfer it and act upon it has
  increased to the point that it is unfathomable
  for all but the smallest of businesses to operate
  without computers or networks. As the value of
  the computing infrastructure increases so to does
  the value of disruption. The financial
  implications are one thing, but the psychological
  impact of the Internet disruption could be even
  more damaging

6

• How likely is this to happen? It is not, if it
  will happen, but when. The likelihood of a cyber
  terrorism attack disrupting the Internet
  increases every day. The increased reliance on
  the Internet by business, government and society
  has made it a prime target for terrorist intent
  on disrupting our economy and way of life.

7

• Security professionals have expressed their
  increasing concern over not only the increase in
  frequency of attacks against the Internet, but
  also the increase in the level of sophistication
  of these attacks.

8

• While the complexity of the attacks is
  increasing, the skill level of the intruder that
  launched the attack is decreasing. This is a very
  troubling trend. As the terrorists learn from
  every attack what works and what doesn't, where
  the vulnerabilities are, how we respond, and the
  methods we use to detect these attacks, they gain
  the knowledge that will increase their odds for
  success.

9
What is the current state of attack? 

• Despite significant investment in technology and
  infrastructure, cyber terrorism represents one of
  the greatest challenges in combating terrorism.
  Every day the Internet and countless other
  computer systems are under attack. 

10

• Most studies to date have shown that critical
  information infrastructures are potentially
  vulnerable to a cyber terrorist attack. The
  increasing complexity of information systems
  creates new vulnerabilities and challenges for IT
  management. Even if the technology is armour
  plated, insiders acting alone or in concert with
  other terrorists may be able to exploit their
  access capabilities to wreak considerable harm.
•  

11
What would the impact be of Terrorism attack?

• The intention of a cyber terrorism attack could
  range from economic disruption through the
  interruption of financial networks and systems or
  used in support of a physical attack to cause
  further confusion and possible delays in proper
  response.  

12

• Although cyber attacks have caused billions of
  dollars in damage and affected the lives of
  millions, we have yet witness the implications of
  a truly catastrophic cyber terrorism attack. What
  would some of the implications be?

13
Direct Cost Implications

• Loss of sales during the disruption
• Staff time, network delays, intermittent access
  for business users
• Increased insurance costs due to litigation
• Loss of intellectual property - research,
  pricing, etc.
• Costs of forensics for recovery and litigation
• Loss of critical communications in time of
  emergency

14
Indirect Cost Implications

• Loss of confidence and credibility in our
  financial systems
• Tarnished relationships public image globally
• Strained business partner relationships -
  domestic and internationally
• Loss of future customer revenues for an
  individual or group of companies
• Loss of trust in the government and computer
  industry

15
 When will it happen?

• As the value of our information infrastructure
  further increases and the capabilities of the
  cyber terrorists' increase, the likelihood of a
  significant incident increases.

16
Thwarting Cyber Terrorism  Critical
Infrastructure and Key Resources

• Following the terror attacks of September 11,
  2001, President Bush signed new Executive Orders
  relating to critical infrastructure protection.
• The Executive Order signed October 8, 2001,
  established the Office of Homeland Security and
  the Homeland Security Council. Among the duties
  assigned the Office was to coordinate efforts to
  protect energy production, transmission, and
  distribution services and critical facilities and
  other utilities, telecommunications, facilities
  that produce, use, store, or dispose of nuclear
  material, public and privately owned information
  systems, special events of national significance,

17

• Transportation, including railways, highways,
  shipping ports and waterways, airports and
  civilian aircraft, livestock, agriculture, and
  systems for the provision of water and food for
  human use and consumption. In response to the
  terror attacks of September 11, 2001, Congress
  passed the USA PATRIOT Act of 2001 The PATRIOT
  Act was intended to deter and punish terrorist
  acts in the United States and around the world,
  to enhance law enforcement investigatory tools,
  and for other purposes.

18
What needs to be done by Corporates

• Corporates must be forced to wage an all-out war
  against cyber terrorism. Securing the information
  infrastructures will require a substantial effort
  on everyone's part. Close collaboration between
  government and the private sector is critical.
  Even more critical is the close collaboration
  within the computer, networking and software
  industries. These industries must work closely
  and continue efforts to enhance technology
  security capabilities. Security is designed in,
  not added on.  

19

• Until the weakest links in the network are
  protected we all are vulnerable and may be
  impacted. The government sector must institute
  tougher penalties for cyber crimes and increased
  funding for law enforcement efforts to fight it.,
  though easier said than done. This must be
  accomplished with a high degree of collaboration
  globally. Getting countries to agree on anything
  these days seems to be an almost unachievable
  task. Is cyber terrorism the shape of future
  conflict? Is a digital underground developing
  right now? Will our scientists, software
  engineers, and technical resources be able to
  stay one step ahead of these faceless terrorists?
  Only time will tell!

20

• Computer and information security, data
  protection, and privacy are all growing problems.
  No single technology or product will eliminate
  threats and risk. One wonders if we have even
  begun to think of the social and economic
  implications of a considerable cyber terrorism
  attack against our infrastructure. Securing our
  computers, information, and communications
  networks secure our economy and our country. A
  global strategy and policy for combating this
  type of terrorism is need now.

21
Cyber terrorism Prevention Checklist

• Find out whether your IT, security, and human
  resource personnel have put in place the
  necessary security precautions to protect you
  from becoming an unwitting collaborator.
• Intelligence Gathering
• Identity Impersonation and/or Identity Theft
• Prevention.
• Spyware
• Internal Threats
• Breakdowns in the Human Firewall

22

• System/Browser Vulnerabilities
• Wireless Insecurity
• Denial-of-Service (DoS) Attacks
• System Hijacking
• Steganography
• Tunneling
• Worms, Trojan Horses, and Viruses
• Disinformation
• DNS Poisoning and Domain Hijacking
• Changing Web Site Contents

23
The problem

• The resource to launch a cyber attack are
  common place-a computer and an internet
  connection is all that is needed to wreck havoc,
  added to this is public and private sectors are
  relatively ignorant to there dependence on
  computers and the venerability of these
  computers.

24

• THE NEXT GENERATIO OF TRANSNATIONAL CYBER
  TERRORISTS UNDERSTANDS
• THAT A HAND ON MOUSE CAN BE MORE LETHAL THAN A
  FINGER ON TRIGGER