Challenges of countering cyber terrorism in the hybrid war contexts

This conference paper seeks to explore the characteristics of cyber terrorism and challenges of countering cyber terrorism in the hybrid war contexts. This conference paper also intends to highlight the difficulties of coping with the terrorist uses of the cyber space and social media when the perpetrators of cyber terrorist acts remain anonymous and the parties of hybrid warfare adhere to the principle of deniability constantly The conference paper puts forward the argument that the concept of cyber terrorism should be defined strictly in the narrow sense that emphasizes the illegal politically motivated manipulations of the cyber space and social media rather than the broader sense that emphasizes all unauthorized acts and breaches of cyber norms, which may not necessarily involve any political motivation or intention to serve the hybrid warfare strategies of combatants. Moreover, the conference paper also demonstrates that the sustainaility and resilience of cyber security solutions necessitate the readiness to cope with the cyber warfare settings if and when cyber terrorist attacks take place in the hybrid warfare contexts in which various forms of war including cyber warfare and cyber terrorism are utilized in order to achieve political objectives covertly. The conference paper starts with exploring the conceptual problems in the broader definitions of cyber terrorism as well as clarifying the definition of hybrid warfare concept through a general literature review. Afterwards, the conference paper demonstates the characteristics of cyber terrorism in the hybrid warfare contexts. Next, the conference paper identifies the challenges of countering cyber terrorism when cyber attacks take the form of cyber warfare as part of a broader hybrid warfare strategy of achieving political objectives covertly. The conference paper concludes with a concise discussion of the theoretical and policy-relevant implications of the trends in cyber terrorism and hybrid warfare for security studies in international relations discipline