CyberTerror: Threat Assessment

Nuke Gingrich ^ | 8/22/06 | nuke gingrich

[grandpa jones]

Evan Kohlman describes how the internet has become the focal point for AlQaeda's new business model in the September/October issue of Foreign Affairs. Following is an except published at Counterterrorism Blog:

In truth, although catastrophic computer attacks are not entirely inconceivable, the prospect that militants will be able to execute them anytime soon has been overblown. Fears of such science-fiction scenarios, moreover, have led policymakers to overlook the fact that terrorists currently use the Internet as a cheap and efficient way of communicating and organizing. These militants are now dedicated to waging an innovative, low-intensity military campaign against the United States. Jihadists are typically organized in small, widely dispersed units and coordinate their activities online, obviating the need for a central command. Al Qaeda and similar groups rely on the Internet to contact potential recruits and donors, sway public opinion, instruct would-be terrorists, pool tactics and knowledge, and organize attacks. The RAND Corporation's David Ronfeldt and John Arquilla have called this phenomenon "netwar," which they define as a form of conflict marked by the use of "network forms of organization and related doctrines, strategies, and technologies." In many ways, such groups use the Internet in the same way that peaceful political organizations do; what makes terrorists' activity threatening is their intent.

[grandpa jones]

Actually, I was quite impressed to learn that the FBI's cybercrime dvision made a special appeal for help at the Black Hat Convention earlier this month. Here is the story from C-Net. I blogged about it at the time, but I can't give you the link because Blogger™ ate my archives in the beta conversion process. But, I digress. This quote from Black Hat is quite telling, and echoes Evan Kohlman's earlier concerns:

Although the government is trying to be nimble, others might know about potential threats before federal agents do, he said. "Critical information on terrorism and cybercrimes could be in your hands and might be in your hands before they reach ours," he said.

The FBI's call for help confirms that it is not equipped to deal with cybercrime, said Tom Thomas, a security consultant from California who is attending Black Hat.

"It is not reassuring," Thomas said. "It confirms what we already suspect. There is great technical inadequacy, if not downright ineptness, at the FBI. Therefore they are, perhaps desperately, seeking help from almost anyone."