Digital Crime and Digital Terrorism
Introduction
Digital technology has transformed every aspect of our lives. The intended purpose of technology is to provide solutions to challenges affecting education, social areas, industrial areas, and more. On a positive note, digital technology has improved connectivity, communication, learning, education, and many more. However, digital technology has increased digital crime and terrorism at alarming rates. Over the years, there have been a high increase in crime and terrorism. Today, cybercriminals have caused a significant threat to governments, businesses, and every aspect of people's lives. An important point to note is that the root cause of digital crime and terrorism is the persistence of insecurity. In other words, the technology is not providing security yet, it should be at the forefront providing security to combat digital crime and terrorism. As a result, hackers and terrorists are using modern technology to conduct crime and terrorism. The private and public sectors have tried to implement measures to combat the attacks but they do not provide full security simply because the crime extends across national boundaries. This indicates that since the criminal and terrorist groups create transnational crime, it indicates that a legally mandated cooperation is needed in the investigation and addressing transnational attacks. Nevertheless, the issue at hand is that online criminal behaviors have increased and an important point to note is that as a result of technological advance, criminals are not only using the known social media platforms but they are also using another private forum such as dark web where it has hard to trace them. Generally, technology today is constantly advancing. Advance technology is lacking the security discipline needed to ensure an attack free surface. In turn, digital crimes and terrorism are more evident than ever.
Almost everyone is in total agreement that digital technology is crucial to the economy, communication, societies, transportation, entertainment, and more. However, the technology is associated with issues and concerns, or in other words, technology is questioned on the issue of digital crime and terrorism (United States Congress, 1992). The U.S Congress conducted information and found that terrorism is not new but for 20 years, it has stood out to be a real threat to the U.S. Today, cyber-crime and terrorists are not attacking the political field but they have gone beyond to cause large-scale attacks. Terrorist attacks within the U.S and foreign countries heightened the need to know more about terrorism; including the role of technology. For example, in 1988, the explosion in the Pan Am Flight 103, and the Persian Gulf War made the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) investigate how technology can be used to prevent crime. An important point to note is that in conducting future assessment, it was found that Unites States, Philippines, Asia, and other countries will continue to face terrorist threats. This is because terrorists are using technological advances (United States Congress, 1992). Thus, these countries are vulnerable given that the technology is enabling the criminals to manufacture biological weapons. On this point, it is important to note that biological weapons are cheap to obtain than nuclear explosives. There is no technological impediment that hinders the use of biological or radiological chemicals and thus, it is easier to obtain and manage. The technology is also providing technological know-how concerning the possession of these weapons. United States Congress (1992) assert that terrorists enjoy using these weapons because the weapons do not require much training and it is also easier to possess them using low costs. Terrorists target the vulnerable population and inflict casualties and mass destruction. Thus, it is important to understand that technology has increased crime and terrorism in that terrorists can possess weapons that would help them achieve the objectives.
Technological development in the 21st century has brought many challenges to the nations. Technology has enabled the attackers to use computers and networks to conduct crimes such as Internet fraud, identity theft, hacking online harassment, hate crimes, invasion of privacy, and more (Zhang et al. 2012). Attackers also use information technology to damage infrastructures such as emergency services, public health, the communication sector, and other infrastructure. Attackers use the computer systems to commit computer crimes such as to storage of illegal images, and to engage in harassment. On the other hand, digital terrorism means that cyber-terrorist use the computer system to accomplish their goal of causing violence and damage. They use sophisticated high technology to attack multiple attacks and they aim to cause threat or intimidation. Zhang et al (2012) assert that the advancement of information technology has provided the attackers with the capability to conduct criminal activities. It is important to understand that cybercrimes are worse than physical crimes. This is because law enforcement organizations can use all kinds of mechanisms to prevent crimes. However, it is not possible to avoid cybercrimes and terrorisms not because the law enforcement lacks power but because it has a limited understanding of the nature of cybercrimes and terrorisms (Zhang et al. 2012). To put it clearly, law enforcement organizations are unable to make technical laws and to collect evidence simply because cybercrimes have a sophisticated nature. What happens is that the cyber attackers and terrorists will commit a crime and the law enforcement or the administrators will notice later that a crime happened. For example, police can detect a physical injury by visiting the crime scene but it is difficult to detect a cyber-attack simply because there is a lack of noticeable evidence. A point to note is that cybercrimes exceed the physical crimes that in 2006, the total number of cybercrimes was 3.24 million. The perplexing thing is 90% of cases of cybercrimes are not reported (Zhang et al. 2012). This indicates that cybercrimes and terrorism are growing rapidly since millions of these activities are not reported simply because they are low-visibility acts or in other words, it is difficult to detect them.
Hill & Marion, (2016) adds that in preventing cybercrimes, law enforcement wants to know the patterns in cybercrime. Unfortunately, law enforcement does not get accurate statistics on the amount of cybercrime in the United States. Thus, statistics are derived from the reported offenses. One may ask a question like "what makes it hard to detect the amount of cybercrime". The answer to this question is that first, cybercriminals use the computer system to commit crimes, and sometimes they do not cause damage making it hard to notice the crime. Secondly, the computer system has peer-to-peer networks; meaning that the digital files are used by many users making it hard to detect the crime (Hill & Marion, 2016). Some users may detect crime but they opt to stay silent due to the fear of being embarrassed. For example, many cases of cyberbullying go unreported as the victim fears being humiliated and they opt to stay silent and hand the situation alone. Others are not aware that cyberbullying is a criminal offense that should be reported. Even some victims who report the crime do not help since law enforcement does not have an effective means of collecting the evidence (Hill & Marion, 2016). In general, millions of cybercrimes go unreported and what happens is that law enforcement as well as the general population underestimate the damages. However, the FBI has come up with new ways of estimating the number of cybercrimes. The law enforcement agency has asserted that the best way of measuring the cost. Note that in the United States, computer crimes cause %400 billion industrial costs. The total number of economic costs in the global exceeds % 13 billion (Hill & Marion, 2016). The costs specifically occur due to malware attack. This raises the question “what about other illegal activities in the computer system?
Focusing on computer security incidents, the Computer Security Institute conducted a survey and invoked 5, 412 security practitioners. The practitioners were asked to report computer security incidents between the years 2009 and 2010. Only 315 reported gave responses and less than half of the total practitioner reported an attack but the majority reported that there were unaware if they were attacked or not (Hill & Marion, 2016). Security practitioners who reported an attack said that they experienced malware attacks and a less number reported financial fraud incidents (The Washington Post, 2020). In the real world, computer security incidents are common, and a good example is Capital One Breach. First, it is important to note that data breach is an activity where hackers access information without authorizations. In the digital world, a data breach is increasingly common since technology can access identifiable information. Capital One is an auto finance company and it leaked information containing social security numbers, credit card data, among other sensitive information (The Washington Post, 2020). The attackers used the Tor Network and IPredator and exploited the server-side application and accessed the inter-server requests.
Focusing on digital terrorism, Hill & Marion (2016) assert that challenges do not only exist in trying to estimate the number of cybercrimes, but law enforcement does not estimate the exact nature of cyber terrorism. An important point to understand about cyber terrorism is that the term has existed for more than 50 years, yet the term is still problematic due to its differing definitions and its political nature. In specific, it is not only difficult to understand cybercrimes but there are also challenges in defining cyber terrorism simply because the cyber terrorists are anonymous and antithetical, and hence it is difficult to combat it. Nevertheless, the reality is that cyber terrorism is an activity where criminals use computers to cause violence and property damage. A point to remember is that technology has enabled cyber-terrorists to accomplish their goals. In most cases, cyber terrorists are influenced by propaganda or in other words a communicative practice where cyber-terrorism aims at bringing a social interest (Hill & Marion, 2016). Terrorists distribute the propaganda online and they recruit followers who support the propaganda until they achieve their goals. A point to note is that law enforcement or the general population can prevent the spread of propaganda simply because people have the right to free speech and thus, terrorists use this right to spread the propaganda or rather to distribute their message to their intended audiences (Hill & Marion, 2016). On the issue of propaganda, it is important to note that cyber terrorists use the internet to conduct recruitment or in other words inviting potential members to join the groups. For example, the Jihad group recruit women who play a significant role in supporting them during the fight. They also play an active role in spreading propaganda.
Cyber terrorists do not only use the internet for propaganda but they use it to raise funds. They use different tools such as direct solicitation. This means that cyber terrorists use a variety of means such as using websites to talk directly to members who visit the websites to give funds. Terrorists also use methods such as identity theft, credit card frauds, and other means. Another way terrorists raise money is through charitable organizations and money providers are not aware that their donations are to support terrorist groups (Hill & Marion, 2016). As said before, technology advancement has increased cyber terrorisms in that the internet is the place whether they conduct training and planning. Members use the online platform to receive training. Training involves the weapons to use for the attack, the instructions to carry out the attack, the cities to target, the surveillance techniques, and more. For example, planning for the 9/11 attackers was done online. Terrorists shared information and ideas using an email. Other terrorist groups such as Hamas use chat rooms to organize the attacks and other websites to raise funds (Hill & Marion, 2016). What makes it difficult to detect their plans is not because they use the internet but it is because they use complex coding where the message is concealed to so that it appears like the message is harmless. Technology also allows cyber-terrorists to conduct surveillance to ensure safety.
Another important point to know about digital terrorism and digital crimes are that there are private sites where criminals carry out their black market activities. In modern days, terrorists are hiding their information in Dark Web and one cannot access this data without having a password. In other words, Dark Web can be referred to as "Digital underground" since these places have complete freedom (Weimann, 2018). An important point to note is that Dark Web is a browsing tool but the user should have special skills to use it in conducting crimes such as selling drugs, access weapons, obtain human organs and other illegal activities. As stated before, the internet allows cyber-terrorists to provoke violence. Technology allows terrorists to communicate effectively with their members at a low cost. Recent studies confirm that Dark Web has 57% of illegal content such as terrorist's communication and illicit finance (Weimann, 2018). Terrorists enjoy the advantages offered by the Dark Web in that it is a secretive platform. For example, the U.S National Security Agency found that al-Qaeda leaders use the Dark Net platforms to communicate and to conduct planning as well. A point to note is that in the 1990s, cyber terrorists used online platforms such as Surface Web but this platform is not effective since it is easy to monitor and trace the terrorists (Weimann, 2018). However, the technology has allowed cyber-terrorists to use other decentralized and anonymous safe havens such as Dark Web. For example, the terrorist attacks on November 2015 in Paris led to the closure of all websites that ISIS was using for illegal operations. However, ISIS turned to the Dark Web to continue with their plans for future attacks (Weimann, 2018. In general cyber terrorists are using the Dark Web to raise funds, to spread propaganda, to conduct recruitment, and to plan attacks. Unlike the Surface Web, Dark Web allows terrorists to protect their identities.
Response to digital crime and digital terrorism
Tehrani et al (2013) states that cybercrimes and cyber terrorism are increasingly growing yet local lawmakers and regional and bilateral parties are unable to combat cyber-attacks. Thus, the best solution is a global response and this means that international treaties should come up with international solutions. Although nations need self-regulatory strategies, there should be international agreements merely because cybercrimes and terrorism are international crimes. Another important point is that these crimes are under the universal jurisdiction because the nation affected does not have the power to combat or it lacks enough legislation, and the crimes are heinous (Tehrani et al. 2013). Being under universal jurisdiction, it means that the international community should come up with an international law to combat these crimes which are against humanity and are heinous. On universal jurisdiction, international organizations and the International Criminal Court should form multilateral cooperation to conduct an investigation, set security goals, and implement deterrence measures.
Brenner (2006) adds that military-law enforcement should be integrated into the response process. A point to note is that the military-law enforcement should stop being single entity or in other words there should be no institutional separation. Instead, there should be operation integration so that the different entities that is; the civilian law enforcement and the military can combine efforts in evaluating the nature of the attack (Brenner, 2006). An important point to note is that in combating digital crime and digital terrorism, the military will play a significant role in finding information and detecting crime events that law enforcement could not. The military will share the information and hence enhance the ability to combat the crimes.
Conclusion
Modern societies are enjoying the benefits offered by the internet such as collaboration, entertainment, connectivity, and many more. However, the same technology has increased cybercrimes and cyber-terrorism and the societies can attest to the loss of life and damage to the infrastructure as a result of cyber-crimes. Today, criminals are using internet technology to cause online protects and to disrupt national security. The motivation behind cyber-crimes includes causing physical harm through damaging the critical infrastructure, accessing the computer system data for beneficial use, causing economic confusion, generating fear, among other motives. Criminals attack information technology through different means such as accessing systems and altering information. An important point to note is that the United Nations have implemented various strategies to combat cybercrimes. However, the United Nations have been using the existing methods and this means that a proactive approach to maintain digital security is needed. Note that terrorists are using innovative methods and this demands new approaches. In specific, there should be an international co-operation and specific regulations toward protecting human rights. Note that international co-operation will raise awareness and more importantly, come up with a conceptual response that entails cyber security strategy.
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