India has been the Victim of Cyberterrorism
By Colonel B. S. Nagial (Retd.) Cyberterrorism is a global phenomenon but not much recognised in India. However, India ranks second highest user of the Internet after China. It is estimated that about 20% of the Indian population uses Internet facilities. In contrast, in the US and UK, 90% of people use the Internet. And people who use the Internet facilities are also called ‘Netizens.’ The over-dependence on the Internet increases susceptibilities & weaknesses. Sometimes the feelings of aggression are transformed into anger and revenge, which turns them into criminals. Most people in India aren’t sensitive to cyber threats posed by the virtual world. Information Technology (IT) has opened a plethora of opportunities for the world to develop its financial infrastructures and other e-commerce facilities. Cyber crimes are increasing daily. The ‘netizens’ are ignorant and in denial that their activities are safe and secure. We usually share our important & sensitive data & information inadvertently on social media. The momentous growth of the cyber world has further posed the threat of cyberterrorism. Cyber attacks depict lethal and non-lethal psychological problems faced by people. Cyberterrorism is typically considered a tool that only affects the national security system. But in fact, it also affects the psyche of the people. Cyber terrorists have increased the employment of cyber attacks dramatically in the past few years. It has caused mass destruction & damage to various facilities such as health, energy, nuclear, and critical command & control facilities. Cyber professionals are at work to reinforce capacity-building measures to restrain cyber attacks on critical systems in India. What is Cyberterrorism? As per the dictionary, cyber-terrorism is ‘the motivated use of computers and information technology to cause extreme interruption or extensive fear in society.’ Dorothy Denning, a professor of computer science, has given the most notable definition of cyberterrorism. He has put forward an admirably unambiguous definition in numerous articles and in her testimony before the US House Armed Services Committee in May 2000 – Cyberterrorism is the conjunction of cyberspace and terrorism. It denotes illicit attacks and threats of attacks against computers, networks and the information stored therein when done to intimidate or coerce a government or its people. Also, to qualify as cyberterrorism, an attack must cause violence against persons or property or inflict sufficient harm to cause fear. Attacks which cause death or bodily injury, explosions, or severe economic loss are a few examples. Grave attacks against critical infrastructures could be acts of cyberterrorism, depending on their impact. Cyberterrorism is a deliberate attempt, which is a politically, socially or religiously inspired attack against information systems, programs and data. The definition is occasionally expanded to include any cyber attack that intimidates or generates fear in the target population. Attackers often do this by inflicting damage or disruption to critical infrastructure. Cyberterrorism is also known by terms such as electronic terrorism, electronic jihad, information warfare or cyber warfare. The fact is that cyberterrorism threats can come from so many different sources, and sometimes it would seem impossible actually to defend ourselves from them. Objectives of Cyberterrorism The fundamental objective of a cyber-attack is hacking, generally to satisfy the ego of hackers by creating terror. Sometimes it seems too similar or overlapping, like cyber attacks and cyberterrorism. The objective of cyberterrorism is to instil feelings of terror in the mind of cyber victims. Cyberterrorism also threatens the most vulnerable points covering physical and virtual worlds. It includes the commission of acts of destruction, alteration, acquisition and acts of transmission against the following: Defence forces. Internal security system. Health care system. Financial infrastructure. Other important civilians networks. Destructions of supervisory control and data acquisition system of smart cities. Information and Communication Technology (ICT) may be used to help the commission of terrorist-related offences. It can be promoted to use, promote, support, facilitate, and engage in acts of terrorism such as spreading propaganda, recruitment, radicalisation, incitement to terrorism, terror financing, training planning and execution of terrorist attacks. Modus Operandi of Cyberterrorism Cyberterrorism is gaining far-fetched attention due to extensive reporting by the media and numerous other institutions, both from the public as well as private sectors. They accept that cyberterrorism is capable of rendering catastrophic impacts. Thus, it is imperative to share awareness among the general public to alleviate cyberterrorism threats effectively. Most cyberterrorism cases have numerous common traits. It is essential to clearly define what a cyberterrorism attack looks like to avoid misunderstandings leading to confusion later on. Usually, the victims of cyberterrorism attacks are specifically targeted by the attacker(s) for predetermined reasons. There have been random cases of cyberattacks carried out in the past, such as releasing harmful viruses and worms through the Internet. However, in reality, the targets were arranged by cyber terrorists. This is because if the attacks are more focused and intended towards an explicit target, there are better chances of inflicting severe damage on the target chosen. The most common objective of cyberterrorism is to inflict damage or destroy completely a particular target which may be an organisation, industry, sector, or economy, or to impact particular targets. These types of attacks are becoming popular. Thus, specific countermeasures will be required to prevent the targeted entities from falling victim to such attacks. One more common feature of cyber terrorism is the resolve which is to further the terrorist or terrorist groups’ own goals, such as to inflict heavy damages on the former employer due to unsettled disputes or to create chaos among the general public. Cyber terrorists deploy various types of cyberterrorism attacks. As per the Center for the Study of Terrorism and Irregular Warfare at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, USA, cyber terrorism capabilities can be grouped into three main categories; simple unstructured, advanced-structured and complex-coordinated. Simple-unstructured This is the fundamental capability to conduct hacks against individual systems employing tools created by others. This type of organisation possesses little target analysis, command and control skills, and limited learning capability. Advanced-structured This is the advanced competence to conduct more experienced attacks…