Cyber-terrorism
Cyber-attacks, Terrorist Capabilities, and Federal Action
Although terrorists have been adept at spreading propaganda and attack instructions on the Web, it appears that their capacity for offensive computer network operations may be limited. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) reports that cyber-attacks attributed to terrorists have largely been limited to unsophisticated efforts such as email bombing of ideological foes, denial-of-service attacks, or defacing of websites. However, it says, their increasing technical competency is resulting in an emerging capability for network-based attacks. The FBI has predicted that terrorists will either develop or hire hackers for the purpose of complementing large conventional attacks with cyber-attacks. During his testimony…
