What is Cyber Terrorism?

Any "premeditated, politically motivated attack against information, computer systems, computer programs, and data which results in violence against non-combatant targets by sub-national groups or clandestine agents."- U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation

The First Cyber Attack

The first known cyber attack was known as "The Morris Worm," and was unleashed in 1988. This cyber worm infected United States' computers and caused them to significantly slow down their processing speed. The worm was created by Tim Morris, who has since gone on to be a professor at the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science department at MIT.

Definition:

"A cyber attack perpetrated by nation states or violent extremist groups could be as destructive as the terrorist attack on 9/11"
-Leon E. Panetta (Former US Secretary of Defense)

Chaos Computer Club

Soon, groups of hackers formed to better execute these cyber attacks. One such group, the "Chaos Computer Club" formed in 1981, and has since become Europe's Largest association of hackers.

Cyber's Most Wanted

EVGENIY MIKHAILOVICH BOGACHEV

Bogachev is currently listed by the CIA as the most sought after cyber criminal alive. His distribution of malicious software on innocent people's computers has caused an estimated $100 million dollars in lost currency. He is wanted for committing countless cyber crimes such as bank fraud, identity theft, wire fraud, racketeering and money laundering. Any information leading to his arrest has a reward of up to $3 million.

Types of Cyber Terrorism:

-Conspiracy to Participate in Racketeering Activity
-Bank Fraud

-Conspiracy to Violate the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act

-Conspiracy to Violate the Identity Theft and Assumption Deterrence Act

- Aggravated Identity Theft

- Conspiracy

-Passport Fraud

-Trafficking in Counterfeit Service Marks

-Computer Intrusion

-Unauthorized Access to a Protected Computer

- Accessing a Computer Without Authorization for the Purpose of Commercial Advantage and Private Financial Gain

-Damaging Computers Through the Transmission of Code and Commands

-Trojan Attacks

-Virus and Worm attacks