Cyberterrorism

In 1996, a computer hacker allegedly associated with the White Supremacist movement temporarily disabled a Massachusetts Internet Service Provider and damaged part of the ISP=s record keeping system. The ISP had attempted to stop the hacker from sending out worldwide racist messages under the ISP=s name. The hacker signed off with the threat, “you have yet to see true electronic terrorism. This is a promise.” The hacker apparently never made good on his promise, but the threat of a cyberterrorist attack has many people worried. The highly acclaimed Computers at Risk report (1991) from the National Research Council concludes “Tomorrow’s terrorist may be able to do more with a keyboard than with a bomb.” And Cybercrime, Cyberterrorims, and Cyberwarfare (1998) from the Global Organized Crime Project of the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, DC says “Cyberterrorists, acting for rogue states or groups that have declared holy war against the United States, are known to be plotting America’s demise as a superpower.