The Role of Cyber Security in Counter-Terroism

The era of globalization has brought to our life a new phenomenon – the Internet, the information network that has linked a significant part of humanity in a single unbroken system. Today it is hard to imagine life without a computer and, therefore, without all the opportunities offered by the Internet. Although the Internet offers tremendous benefits, mankind exposed itself to grave danger ? the defeat of one element of the network causes errors in the operation of the rest.

Cyber terrorists, people who specialize in hacking into computer systems, gradually learned to expose an individual to global cyber attacks, thus marking the beginning of the history of cyber warfare (Clarke & Knake, 2012).

Cyber security is a set of funds, policies, principles of safety, security guarantees, risk management approaches, actions, training, insurance, and technologies that are used to protect cyber resources of organizations and users. Cyber security means achieving and maintaining security properties in the organization’s resources against the relevant cyber threats (Clarke & Knake, 2012).

The main tasks of security are availability, integrity, authenticity, and confidentiality. Cyber security is a necessary condition for the development of information society.

Information security is one of the types of national security, an important function of the state. Information security means:

legal formation of the national information policy;

guarantee freedom of information and access to information in the national information space;

support of the development of national information resources, taking into account advances in science and technology and features of the spiritual and cultural life;

creation and implementation of secure information technology;

protection of state secrets and classified information that is subject to ownership or subject only to possession, use or disposal of the state;

establishment of the common system of information, including protection of state secrets and other classified information;

protection of national information space from spreading distorted or forbidden by law information products.

The problem of efficiency of international security has considerable importance in the maintenance of peace on our planet. During the Cold War, distrust and mutual suspicion between the countries was very high, forcing the opposing side to arm themselves.

A well-known expression of the U.S. President Ronald Reagan states that people do not trust each other not because they are armed, but they are arming themselves because they do not trust each other. In many ways, the problem of efficiency of international security issues is related to the enforcement of international obligations of disarmament and arms limitation.

It is clear that in today’s world where cyberspace and modern information technology play an increasingly important role in the state, its economy and security, we cannot ignore the threats associated with the use of high technology. Due to this, it is increasingly possible to hear words like cyber espionage and cyber war.

One of the first cyber warfare occurred in April 2007, when the decision of the Estonian government to move the monument to the Liberator Soldier organized.

The term cyber terrorism was coined by a senior fellow at the Institute for Security and Intelligence Barry Collin in the mid 1980 for terrorist activities in the virtual space. The author suggested at the time that real cyber terrorism became known no earlier than at the beginning of the XXI century.

Russia and China are two states that are currently allocated by experts in the West as the main sources of cyber threats.

In the recent years, China has been able to prepare at least 180,000 cyber spies. In 2009 alone, Chinese hackers have taken about 90 thousand hacking attempts of the U.S. military databases. In addition, in 2020 China is going to create the “world’s best information troops,” and there is no reason to doubt this statement (The National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace).

The most famous cyber attacks which are thought to have been conducted by the Chinese are “Titanium rain” (the attack on the Pentagon database) and an attempt in 2009 to break (how it worked – unknown) the most expensive project the Pentagon’s Joint Strike Fighter.

The head of the U.S. counter-intelligence confirmed that computer criminals have access to the most expensive military project documentation of Pentagon ? fighter-bomber of the fifth generation F-35 Lightning II. Pentagon officials declined to comment on the assessment of the extent of the damage.

According to the analysts of the American counter-intelligence, computer chips, which may contain spyware programs that allow not only to copy, but also to send information to customer, are made in China. Similar attempts have been recorded in computer networks of Departments of State, Commerce, and Department of Homeland Security.

It is extremely difficult to determine who is a true customer of cyber attacks as virus-infected machines that perform a cyber attack may be located in a completely different state, and, secondly, the main threat in the future is likely to be of non-state actors.

The basis for their work, apparently, could be Africa, primarily due to the fact that in this continent there are practically no functioning international rules to regulate Internet services.

Concerning the threat of cyber attacks of the major terrorist groups the information security analyst opinions here slightly deviate, but in general, experts are inclined to believe that there are no necessary resources and, most importantly, there is not a sufficient number of professionals in these organizations. At the same time, there have been published the facts, according to which terrorists were trying to access the system of SCADA, control operation of dams on several reservoirs of the USA.

After the failure of the Cyber Security Act in 2012, the reaction of the White House was immediate. Barack Obama is determined to do everything possible to protect the state from cyber threats. According to experts, the companies which are connected with the vital computer systems rather strictly regulated and the U.S. government will not be difficult to tighten control of this and apply it to the other businesses and companies. At the same time, without the approval of Congress, Barack Obama cannot get rid of legal barriers that prevent the introduction of a proper standard, under which the company will be required to provide special service information concerning cyber security.

As a result, the largest US intelligence operations in the US, the UK, Bulgaria, Germany, Norway, and Bosnia arrested a total of 24 cyber criminals. This was reported on June 26 by Preet Bharara, the attorney of the Southern District of New York, and Janice Fedarchik, the Deputy Director of the New York Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation of the United States.

Cyber criminals are accused of various frauds with credit cards, bank accounts as well as the use of personal information for their own purposes. The activity of criminals is carried out via the Internet.

This operation which was conducted under the name Card Shop lasted about two years. The number of offenders is not limited to 24 detainees as in some countries (Denmark, Canada, Australia and Macedonia) there is an ongoing interrogation of suspects. The identification and apprehension of criminals, of course, is not only to individual success of the U.S. intelligence, but is also the result of international cooperation in the fight against cyber crime.

The Internet is constantly improved: there are new services and a huge amount of information. This not only opens up additional opportunities for the development of the world community, but also accompanies the emergence of new global threats.

In 2014, the United States plans to spend $ 4.7 billion on cyber security (Sullivan, 2013). According to the investigation, this increase in cost is justified, because cyber espionage and attacks by hackers are now a major threat to the U.S. national security. The recent attack on the servers of government departments and major U.S. companies has caused a serious concern in Washington, demonstrating that electronic billboard of the country is vulnerable.

Firstly, the leading representatives of the American establishment of the expert are fully aware of the fact that Cyber war is asymmetric in nature. Due to the U.S. leadership in the field of information technology and its applications in the military, business, and life-support systems of society, the United States is the most vulnerable to the use of cyber weapons. Secondly, the explosive development of the Internet of Things with a connection to the World Wide Web is not only the social infrastructure and the functional system of homes and neighborhoods, but also of home appliances and even clothes It makes the United States particularly vulnerable to cyber attacks. According to security experts, it is not possible to ensure a proper level of security for the Internet of things today (Cyber Security).

Undoubtedly, without proper care inside-forwards, external operators would be unable to overcome the protection of critical information in such major agencies as the Pentagon. Thus, the theory is confirmed by an external enemy, relying on the support of the fifth column.

The events of September 11, 2001 have led to such conclusions about the nature of modern warfare in cyberspace. Firstly, the events were not an expression of hacking, but were characterized systematically and remotely controlled. Secondly, cyber attacks usually have information about undeclared war that usually precedes political conflicts and wars Thirdly, entities and originators of information warfare and cyber attacks are increasingly becoming non- actors, such as Islamic Al- Qaeda a terrorist organization involved in the events of September 11, 2001

On average, only about one in ten cases of invasion are reported to avoid negative publicity as corporate advertising sites. The e-safety (with world average rate) corporation allocates 5.4% of its budget annually. According to the facts show, globalized terrorism and its risks tend to increase worldwide. Terrorism is one of the most critical challenges and threats to the world (National Cyber Security Alliance).

The international community is gradually beginning to realize that cyberspace becomes a field of struggle, and this leads to the need to develop an appropriate strategy for national and international security. An American expert on cyber security Kenneth Girs emphasized that strategists must realize that every part of the political or military conflict will take place on the Internet (National Cyber Security Alliance).

Among the factors of influence on the solution of security problems:

The globalization of information space, telecommunications networks and information markets;

The transition phase of the information society development;

The formation of civil society.

It is quite easy to imagine the consequences of the Internet using power to destabilize the situation on world markets or in defense systems and management of the other states. Certain groups of organized hackers could take control of computer systems of financial institutions in Europe and the U.S. as well as systems of power, safety, and even the elements of the defense, including nuclear defense of a country.

From the legal point of view, the problem is that there are no clear criteria in international law by which to separate ordinary acts of computer hooliganism from such attacks that have the characteristics of an armed attack on the state or the beginning of armed aggression against a state. Cyber war can be defined as the application of computer technology and the Internet by one state or under its direct support against another state. Cyber war is usually directed against security and defense policy of a state. Moreover, it is so intense and severe that poses a real threat to the security and sovereignty of another state (Sullivan, 2013).

Recently, more and more countries are involved in the cold war in cyber space. They accumulate cyber abilities of spying and testing computer networks in preparation for the cyber war. Many countries immediately increase their cyber capabilities. Israel has created a special unit that deals with defense and attack in cyberspace. In Chinese People’s Army, there is a special cyber division subordinate to the General Staff of the army to prepare cyber threats on the other countries, including Russia, Germany, France, India, South Korea, Iran, Vietnam, Estonia, and others. In addition, the coordination of the efforts on this issue is recognized at the international level, especially now deployed in NATO and the EU.

Cyber terrorism is a separate area which nowadays intensively changes forms, methods, and tools for its technical and technological impact on the global information space.

Cyber terrorism is associated with the activities of extremist nationalist organizations, such as religious, political and so on. The range of application of diverse electronic weapons is unsafe particularly due to the Internet, the integration of satellite and radio communications, and cellular telephony (Cyber Security).

Cyber war should be declared an international crime. Moreover, the appropriate international convention should be developed in order to ban the use of cyber war in global information network. Such a convention should propose a definition of cyber war as the use of the Internet and related technology and information tools by one state to harm the military, technological, economic, political, and information security and sovereignty of another state.

Cyber attacks can cause damage of computer systems as well as systems of air fleet of nuclear power plants, law enforcement and medical care, and so on. After all, they can cause damage far exceeding the size of traditional terrorist acts. Combined time-attacks and cyber attacks constitute a particularly dangerous cumulative effect.

Recently, protection from cyberspace threats has become a global problem. Every year, concentration funds and resources to protect electronic infrastructures of various types increase in developed countries.

Virtually limitless possibilities of the Internet highlight the global threat of virtual crimes, cyber terrorism, and cyber wars. Over the past few years, cyber attacks have repeatedly been made on key segments of infrastructure of developed countries.

The main objective of cyber attacks is strategic infrastructure (nuclear, chemical, or any other industry, life support systems of large cities, financial, food, energy national systems, transport networks, government, law enforcement, military). Attempts that are necessary for structures of the economy or government have been carried out through information and telecommunication systems, particularly automated control systems. The sources of such attacks can be unfriendly states, terrorist or radical organizations and unidentified divisions or individual specialists in software (so-called hackers).

Security of information and telecommunications systems has become an integral part of the national defense strategy of the leading countries of the world. Those countries are the first to create a system of cyber defense that will lay the foundation of legislative regulation of this issue and will get a fundamental advantage in the early stages of the growing problem of cyber attacks. Virtually limitless possibilities of using the Internet underscore the global threat of virtual crime and cyber terrorism.

Power of the Internet for instantaneous transmission of information regardless of international borders is a great advantage when they are used for legitimate purposes. However, these features can become a vulnerable spot. Danger increases manifold when it comes to computer networks and military departments.

Information security has become a structure-forming component on which a whole system of national security is built. Indeed, in the information society channels, networks and information systems and communications are at the same time nervous and cardiovascular system of the society. Development and dissemination of information exposure and peaceful coexistence points occur simultaneously within the information counter. Equilibrium maintenance in the relationship is likely to be determinant in information security.

Therefore, given the information on component processes of modernity, the extension of the concept of information security and identifying is reasonable. It is a measure of the absence of a threat to the rights and freedoms basic interests and values of a sovereign nation state. In this fundamental way, there are individual, society and state objects of information security. Accordingly, it is proposed to consider the notion of information security in the broadest sense of the concept to include the issue of threats to communication and information rights and freedoms and the basic interests of state and national values.

With the rapid growth of Internet dependence, the number of cyber threats dramatically increases and thus does the number of companies creating new products and approaches to deal with such threats. Traditionally, to protect computer networks from intruders, one needs to use a firewall system login and password, antivirus software, and similar facilities.

In conclusion, I would like to emphasize that cyber terrorism is a serious threat nowadays. It is vital not only to identify the problem, but also provide legal and technical methods to combat it. The more countries will cooperate in these matters, the easier it will be to prevent different kinds of well-organized cyber attacks. Thus, the worlds leading powers recognize that the threat of cyber terrorism is an urgent problem with a global character, and it will steadily increase as information technology spreads and develops. Therefore, effective international cooperation in the prevention and mitigation of cyber attacks is crucial. In the world where a strong correlation increases with each passing day, the stakes are higher than ever. Therefore, there must be a balance between the freedom of access to information on the Internet and the provision of cyber security and protection of personal data, which largely depend on the welfare of citizens and peace in the world.

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