When new and revolutionary technologies threaten worldwide security -Cyberterrorism in the Digital Age.
In modern knowledge-based society, ICT, standing for Information and Communication Technology, is omnipresent. With more than 3 billion people having access to the Internet and approximately 8 out of 10 users owning a smartphone, ICT represents a symbol of the technological revolution.
Although the term “information and communication technologies” has no universal definition as the elements included in the process are constantly evolving over time, the concept is generally accepted to mean:
“the combination of unified communications, and the integration of telecommunications (telephone lines and wireless signals), computers as well as necessary enterprise software, middleware, storage, and audio-visual systems, which enable users to access, store, transmit, and manipulate information.” Foldoc.org
Therefore, ICT’s broad scope covers a variety of products which includes personal computers, television, radio, email, and others. All those products are now an integrated part of our everyday life and living without such a technology would render most of our tasks dysfunctional. ICT, and especially the Internet, has sharply revolutionized the way people work, communicate, learn and live. ICT’s importance in leveraging economic, societal and interpersonal transactions and interactions has been so monumental in the last decades. And it is far from being the end. According to ITU’s flagship annual Measuring the Information Society Report, Internet use continues to grow steadily over years and the number of Internet users in developing countries has doubled between 2009 and 2014.
The Internet is always available, whenever you need, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year and whatever you need, it provides you access to a wide range of information. The Internet gives you the possibility to use various ways to communicate with people all around the world at all hours of the day and night. The Internet allows you to keep you updated about news, stories and any other important events, to order food and drinks, to book a room, a flight, etc., etc. In brief, how would your life be without the Internet?
September 11, 2001. A thud, clouds of dust, people running in all directions, the siren of firefighters and paramedics… the scene seems to be drawn from an action movie and yet it is very real. Two planes have just crashed on the famous twin towers of the World Trade Center, in central New York. In less than two hours, almost 3,000 people were killed.
That is how our life becomes BECAUSE OF the Internet.
The effects of this attack have invaded all levels of the society. Serious consequences occurred; airline and national security were reviewed; international relations were disrupted and the concept of private information was challenged. Within this new era, frequently termed the Digital Age, everything is not as rosy as it sounds. As highlighted with the tragedy of the 11th September 2001, in recent years, the ICT sector was influenced by an increasing cyber security threat; attacks by hackers, criminals and terrorist networks are on the rise and are becoming more and more sophisticated. New levels of crime, where so-called bad actors use the Internet to conduct violent and illegally acts, emerged.
As the Internet becomes more pervasive in today’s society, such groups can gain access to computer systems, private information and national security secrets to disrupt systems and threaten entire communities in a total anonymity offered by cyberspace and without the risk of being captured, injured or killed. The rising dependence on the Internet and the advantages it provides creates a platform for international cyber terrorists, where they are able to formulate and execute their attacks. In an article about cyber-attacks by Iran and North Korea, the New York Times observes,
“The appeal of digital weapons is similar to that of nuclear capability: it is a way for an outgunned, outfinanced nation to even the playing field. ‘These countries are pursuing cyberweapons the same way they are pursuing nuclear weapons,’ James A. Lewis.
Within the new society, cyberterrorism is becoming a more serious threat than ever. The next major terrorist attacks will take place on a different battlefield: the cyberspace. Further beyond disturbing internet connections or steal national secrets, the new kind of attack may encompass bigger threat with regard to energy grid, food and water supply as well as emergency communications and others.
Do you still believe that the Internet is the best technological revolution ever?
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