Cyber terrorism can be defined as pre-mediated intrusions that are politically motivated and performed by persons, groups, or information technology agents to manipulate computer programs and other systems (Yunos & Sulaman, 2017). In other words, Cyber-attack is performed with an aim of a security breach to acquire private and confidential information.
There exist no universal definition of Cyber terrorism and this makes most computer systems to be vulnerable to counter cyber-attacks and threats. The common motivational factors behind cyber terrorism include Ideological, economical, political, and social factors (Sebastian & Sakthivel, n.d). Previously, most terrorists used to perform cyber-attacks through physical modes but these days they have shifted to cyberspace due to advanced technology that allows them to perform cyberattacks remotely and inflict extensive and severe damage to the computerized systems of the target country. Most of the cyber-attacks that have occurred involve the direction of the malware and attacks to specific critical systems and Information Technology (IT)infrastructures.
There is international awareness urgency for cyber terrorism vulnerability superficially to critical IT systems and infrastructures, thus the need to seek ways of protecting the systems through secure programming. While most Nations have attempted different steps to ensure the counteract disastrous threats from cyber-attacks by establishing Computer Emergency Response Teams (CERT), there are many gaps for cyber terrorism that are yet to be mended. CERT has been established by the state to help handle Cyber terrorism incidence response. There is a need to establish national cooperation and collaboration among countries and Cybersecurity intelligence agencies to counter terror attacks and security threats (Tabassum et al., 2018). For a successful association, it is essential to have a common goal among country’s to counter cyber terrorisms and the incidence of threats. The alliance should find out and report some of the internet sites and activities that can constitute cyber terrorism. States that are involved in the coalition should sign both bilateral and multilateral treaty based on their agreement on cybersecurity. They should also have a dispensed pool of intelligence to gather and share evidence for any potential cyber threat.
Some of the collaborations that have helped in countering cyber threats include the International Multilateral Partnership Against Cyber-Terrorism (IMPACT) (Teoh & Mahmood, 2017). IMPACT brings together different nations to prevent counter cyber threats. The partnership purpose is to provide a network solution to cyber threats, where member stats help assess security vulnerabilities and propose some of the interventions to mend and upcoming threats in cyberspace. The cooperation fills in security gaps and provides defense. The essence of protecting internet networks is to ensure viable contact details such as emails (Teoh & Mahmood, 2017). Besides, networks eucrite also help guard critical infrastructures such as communications, financial and public services among other personal information. Despite the challenges in creating effective cooperation and collaboration among nations, IMPACT has opened membership all over the world and also allows the developing states to take advantage. Prominent security departments such as Central Intelligences Agencies, Homeland security, and IMPACT work together to counter cyber terrorism.
Conclusively, success in countering cyber terrorism and other information security threats requires government and state intervention. The only method of accomplishing this is by establishing effective communication and collaboration. Furthermore, the academia and other private sectors must also be involved in the cybersecurity dialogues so that they can also provide solutions to mitigate the threats and vulnerability in cyberspace.
References
Sebastian, J., & Sakthivel, P. Cyber Terrorism: A Potential Threat to Global Security. Web.
Tabassum, A., Mustafa, M. S., & Al Maadeed, S. A. (2018). The need for a global response against cybercrime: Qatar as a case study. In 2018 6th International Symposium on Digital Forensic and Security (ISDFS) (pp. 1-6). IEEE. Web.
Teoh, C. S., & Mahmood, A. K. (2017). National cybersecurity strategies for the digital economy. In 2017 International Conference on Research and Innovation in Information Systems (ICRIIS) (pp. 1-6). IEEE. Web.
Yunos, Z., & Sulaman, S. (2017). Understanding cyber terrorism from motivational perspectives. Journal of Information Warfare, 16(4), 1-13. Web.