Jacob Klingbeil
Mrs. Foust
Honors English 12
12/5/2017
Motives and Methods of Terrorism In the past decade, terrorism has increasingly become more of a problem. With advances in technology, terrorists have found new ways to strike fear. Identifying and preventing attacks has become much harder because of these advancements. Along with the many methods of attack, there are several different motives for attack. There may not be an easy solution to the issue of terrorism, since there are many problems to address. It is important to identify the different motives and methods of attack so that finding the solution to terrorism becomes easier. Terrorism hides in many different shapes and forms, and without the knowledge of why and how terrorists …show more content…
Cyber terrorism is the use of technology to cause fear. The FBI says that cyber terrorism is,” The premeditated, politically motivated attack against information, computer systems, computer programs, and data which result in violence against noncombatant targets by sub-national groups or clandestine agents” (Coleman). Today, computers and the internet are used for many things. Sensitive information is stored without much thought about its security. A terrorist could take advantage of these security flaws and steal the information. Stealing information is the least destructive outcome of cyber terrorism. A terrorist could hack the control system for something volatile, such as a gas pipeline, and cause it to malfunction and explode. The hacker may not even need physical access to the control system, and could launch the attack from anywhere. Anything that is connected to a computer or the internet has the possibility of being hacked. Infrastructure such as power plants, and water plants could be sabotaged. The worst-case scenario that a terrorist disable, or takes control of a country’s defense system. These attacks may become common in future years because they cost hardly anything at all. The attacks just require a computer, internet access, and someone experienced. It also is very hard to trace the origin of a cyber-attack. Cyber terrorism may become the most common type of terrorism because of how convenient it is to affect a large group of people with one
Mrs. Foust
Honors English 12
12/5/2017
Motives and Methods of Terrorism In the past decade, terrorism has increasingly become more of a problem. With advances in technology, terrorists have found new ways to strike fear. Identifying and preventing attacks has become much harder because of these advancements. Along with the many methods of attack, there are several different motives for attack. There may not be an easy solution to the issue of terrorism, since there are many problems to address. It is important to identify the different motives and methods of attack so that finding the solution to terrorism becomes easier. Terrorism hides in many different shapes and forms, and without the knowledge of why and how terrorists …show more content…
Cyber terrorism is the use of technology to cause fear. The FBI says that cyber terrorism is,” The premeditated, politically motivated attack against information, computer systems, computer programs, and data which result in violence against noncombatant targets by sub-national groups or clandestine agents” (Coleman). Today, computers and the internet are used for many things. Sensitive information is stored without much thought about its security. A terrorist could take advantage of these security flaws and steal the information. Stealing information is the least destructive outcome of cyber terrorism. A terrorist could hack the control system for something volatile, such as a gas pipeline, and cause it to malfunction and explode. The hacker may not even need physical access to the control system, and could launch the attack from anywhere. Anything that is connected to a computer or the internet has the possibility of being hacked. Infrastructure such as power plants, and water plants could be sabotaged. The worst-case scenario that a terrorist disable, or takes control of a country’s defense system. These attacks may become common in future years because they cost hardly anything at all. The attacks just require a computer, internet access, and someone experienced. It also is very hard to trace the origin of a cyber-attack. Cyber terrorism may become the most common type of terrorism because of how convenient it is to affect a large group of people with one