Throughout the course of this assignment, the issue of which form of Internet-based activity poses the greatest threat to the nation will be explored. There will also be an examination of whether or not the United States is doing enough to counter these threats. The aim will be to gain as thorough an insight as possible into the impact of these activities, the effect that they have upon the country and the efforts to prevent them from taking place that are being implemented.
The United States Defense Secretary has stated that U.S. intelligence agencies are witnessing a dramatic growth in online security threats that have the potential to be as damaging as the September 11th attacks. He has pointed out that cyber-terrorists have successfully hacked control systems for integral pieces of infrastructure and has drawn attention to the fact that it is possible for them to derail trains carrying lethal chemicals, contaminate water supplies or shut down electricity supplies (Ratnam, 2012). This means that they clearly pose a major risk to human lives.
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"What is the Greater Threat to the Nation—Cyber-Crime Directed Against Individuals or Terrorist Cyber-Attacks on National Institutions?".
The FBI has identified a number of forms of cyber-crime that have a devastating effect upon the U.S. economy. Intellectual property theft may lead to the quality of fake goods increasing, meaning that it becomes harder for people to tell the difference between the genuine article and imitations. This could lead to injuries resulting from faulty products that are indistinguishable from the real thing. Networks of remotely controlled computers also deprive people of their data and funds, compromising both citizens’ wealth and their privacy (Snow, 2011). This indicates that cyber-crime can have major negative consequences for individuals, as it can affect their safety, livelihood and ability to maintain private information.
It is clear that the effects of cyber crime are wide-ranging and highly detrimental to individuals. However, it appears that most of the damage that they inflict is financial. Whilst it is true that faulty products can endanger lives as well, this pales into insignificance in comparison to the type of havoc that cyber attacks can wreak. The fact that they are capable of causing major incidents that can bring about wide scale death and destruction means that they pose a substantially greater threat to the security of the nation.
The U.S. is working with experts from a range of other nations to fight cyber-terrorism. It is part of an international treaty aimed at bringing the perpetrators to justice (Elmusharaf, 2004) and the Pentagon spends approximately three billion dollars each year on cutting edge capabilities aimed at combating cyber attacks (Ratnam, 2012). The nation is also taking major steps against cyber-crime, for example the FBI is combining resources across a plethora of different programs to counter threats from cyber-criminals and employs a thousand different advanced cyber-trained agents. It also works closely with overseas bodies to stop cyber-criminals (Snow, 2011).
In conclusion, although cyber-terrorism clearly poses a far greater threat than cyber crime, the U.S. appears to be taking major steps to combat both of these threats. The combined risk posed by these activities could potentially wreak substantial amounts of financial damage and cause mass loss of human life. Therefore, it is essential that the current efforts to keep them under control are not just maintained but also regularly updated and enhanced.
- Elmusharaf, M., 2004. Cyber Terrorism: The New Kind of Terrorism. Retrieved from http://www.crime-research.org/articles/Cyber_Terrorism_new_kind_Terrorism/
- Ratnam, G., 2012, October. Cyberattacks Could Become as Destructive as 9/11: Panetta. Bloomberg BusinessWeek. Retrieved from http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012- 10-12/cyberattacks-could-become-as-destructive-as-9-11-panetta
- Snow, G. (2011). Statement Before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism. Retrieved from http://www.fbi.gov/news/testimony/cybersecurity-resp onding-to-the-threat-of-cyber-crime-and-terrorism
