Cyber Terrorism Poses Threat to National Security

Cyber Terrorism Poses Threat to National Security Terrorism has relocated from the traditional world to the cyber world. Terrorism has entered a new age where a combat zone has emerged in cyberspace. The health, wealth and security of nations such as the United States of America is in jeopardy as critical infrastructures are targeted by terrorists through cyberspace to bring terror to the nation. Cyber terrorism has made terrorists to be more vibrant and less suicidal: there is now no need for travelling long distance with explosives, chemical and biological weapons that might put their lives in danger. This research paper aims to outline reasons behind terrorism relocating to cyberspace, how terrorists intend to use cyberspace to bring terror and the advantages that cyberspace has given them. Traditional tools of terrorism are often regarded as a one step forward and two steps back method as traditional tools are sometimes suicidal and their destination might not be reached. Cyber terrorism is thus a stepping stone for terrorists as they can destroy, hack into systems, alter information and their attacks cannot always be anticipated. Accordingly, this research focuses on how cyber terrorism poses a threat to national security. Based on this threat several aspects of national security espionage will be outlined. Information about economic espionage will be discussed where the economic intelligence is under threat of cyber terrorists. Information warfare will be touched on for example how television and radio transmission can be hijacked and the leakage of sensitive information be used to sabotage stock exchange. Cyber warfare will also be covered to see how cyberspace is used to target the military operations and its facilities. In conclusion, types of cyber terrorism groups that target national security will be discussed. Statistics on cyber terrorist threats will be looked at and ways to stay safe from those types of threats. Introduction Cyber terrorism has been defined in many ways but the main objective is to bring terror by the use of cyberspace. Terrorists have found a comfortable and much safer environment to launch their attacks. Cyberspace has become a training ground, recruitment and training agency, a meeting place and a marketing tool for terrorists. Cyber terrorism causes great discomfort to national security as terrorist organisations, foreign governments, criminal organisations and individual hackers develop new ways to attack critical infrastructures, the military and the government. Cyber terrorism tools has made cyberspace to be the head-quarters for terrorists. Cyber terrorism has become the new weapon of mass destruction for terrorists where their cyber attacks may go unnoticed or at the time of notice, the response time may be limited. Cyber terrorism has given terrorist reason of attacking national security at any given as cyberspace is more advantageous than traditional methods. National security is said to be the requirement to maintain the survival of the nation-state through the use of economic, military and political power. The greater the capacity national security has of holding sensitive information and trade secrets, the greater the capacity to feel pain from cyber terrorists. Now the national security needs to protect the survival of the nation state and also its survival from terrorists attacks. Since well national security cannot fight cyber terrorism on its own they are agencies such as the National Security Agencies (NSA), the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) which help national security fight cyber terrorism. Cyber terrorism if not challenged head on will cause great deal of damaged terrorists relocated to cyberspace after seeing an opportunity that military power in not that dominant in cyberspace. In cyberspace terrorists have privileges of launching an attack at any time with no fear or doubt that it might not succeed or reach the designated area. Cyber terrorism is a trial and error method if the attack did not succeed u can try again mot like traditional method where as if u failed its either you die or end up in jail. Cyber terrorism takes many forms. One of the more popular is to target national security which is taken to be national security espionage. National security espionage ranges from economic espionage to information warfare and cyber warfare. Cyber terrorism stats show that every year enormous amount of money is lost due to cyber terrorism, cyber terrorists target critical infrastructures for making money or they fundraise in cyberspace to raise funds for attacks. Cyberspace has given terrorists a free way of launching their attacks we may fare for the worst as everyday terrorists manage to recruit and train its own army of terrorists the various number of available cyber terrorism tools has to the level of terrorism to an advanced level. We may ask ourselves if the world will ever be ready for a full length cyber terrorism attack. Where will the attack hit and will it be detected in time to respond to the attack? Background Cyberspace has become a combat zone The relocation of cyber terrorists from traditional tools to cyberspace has established a much safer and comfortable environment for terrorists to launch their attacks. In the process their relocation has triggered a robust and dangerous war, this war if fought between national security and cyber terrorists. The battleground has being set in cyberspace, Nation states have created cyber-warfare units, this unit will be known as USCYBERCOMM which is headed by Keith Alexander. Richard Clark said at the RSA conference China and Russia are stealing petabytes of information he also said that the government of China and Russia are successfully engaging in daily activities of stealing anything worth stealing and the United State government and private industry are not stopping them. Terrorists seek to harm the survival of the nation, harm the economy and target critical infrastructures of regions they are targeting. The survival of the national security might be left in shambles if a full scaled cyber attack may be launched against them. Although terrorists have not successfully launched a substantial cyber attack, the threat is there and grows bigger and bigger with every small cyber terrorism attack. With this small cyber attacks, cyber terrorists are gaining more experts and experience. A que stion may come to mind why are terrorists launching these weak attacks? What is the bigger picture that they are trying to painting? Will the answer to this question be that they are trying to find loop holes in systems to be targeted? We will never know until that time comes. National security depends on military power for security but the military is not dominant in cyberspace as it is dominant on surface land and in the sea. Military have limited resources to take on cyber terrorism. Terrorists seek to attack through cyberspace where their attacks have the potential to reach the destination originally targeted simply because the line of defence is not that powerful. Cyber attacks cannot be anticipated, they are no radars to track incoming attacks in cyberspace. Targeting critical infrastructures The move of terrorists to cyberspace has left the world in shivers as the world depends on critical infrastructures for survival and making earns meat. Targeting national security will reduce the ability of protecting the nation; if the ability of protecting the world is reduced terrorists can strike in ways that we cannot image. People are not safe in their homes as gas pipelines pass under their houses cyber terrorists can cause a major gas pipe line burst of regions they are targeting the terror of September they 11 may be relived with the use of pipelines this time. Advantages of cyber terrorism Cyber terrorism is much safer than traditional tools; cyber terrorism has made terrorists to be lee suicidal. Terrorists can cause greater damage at less risk of being caught in the crossfire. Recruitment, teaching and fundraising is simple, they can recruit people make a lot of money in a short space of time. They is no need for terrorists to travel long distance with biological weapons and bombs, attacks can be made remotely from anywhere in the world. Their attacks cannot be anticipated can cause great impact. No check points to go through for terrorists to reach their destination. Cyber terrorism is cheaper than traditional methods. National security espionage National security espionage can be defined as the use of cyberspace by terrorists to penetrate national security systems to try and steal critical information, trade and government secrets and target critical infrastructures. National security protects the nation through the use of economic, military and political power. Cyber terrorists seek to exploit the fact that national security holds sensitive and dangerous information which can harm the survival of national security and the well being of the nations. National security espionage can take many forms which ranges from economic espionage to information warfare and cyber warfare here is an overview of the three types of national security espionage which are mentioned above: Economic espionage Economic espionage also known as industrial espionage is known as the use of cyberspace by under developed countries, commercial or industrial enterprises to gain information of trade secrets which are not available on open channels. Cyber terrorists target Europe and the United States of America as they posses power in the market areas, they have top companies and they are fully developed. Types of cyber terrorism groups that cause terror to national security They are various types of cyber terrorism groups, but the one which cause great deal of panic is those that target national security being for political purpose, industrial espionage or cyber warfare. Whatever the target may be towards national security, the outcome of the attack will be enormous. Groups like: The Osama bin Laden Crew This is a group of cyber jihadists which was found in the year 2000 by Abdullah Quraischi. Al-Qaeda Cyber terrorism tools and techniques The biggest tool for terrorists has become the internet. The internet is an immeasurable digital library, anything about any organisation can be found in the internet. Terrorists use various tools in cyberspace to bring harm, they use tools like: Distribution Denial of Service (DDoS) This is an attempt of denying services, making computer resources not to be available to the intended users. Sniffers Sniffers are used to get passwords of systems (spying of passwords). Rootkits(Musk intrusion) Rootkits are utilities installed in a victims machine to ensure that a cracked system remains available to the intruder. Rootkits are difficult to trace as the system will work as its being working before. Network Analyzers (SATAN) Spoofing (smurfing) Worms Worms are programs which makes copies of itself and copies to other computers trough out the network. Trojan Horses Is the software program which runs on the victims machine and can run secretively BackDoor Backdoors allows hackers to enter systems again at a later stage without being noticed Botnet (zombie army) Botnets are malicious softwares which runs automatically on computers which are hacked.

Environmental Issues Essay

The environmental issues in India become more serious every day and she is turning into a bit of a mess on this front but with over 1 Billion people most of which in dire poverty, it’s hardly surprising. The recent boom in its industries, little or no environmental education, infrastructure nearly at bursting point not to mention the huge deforestation that’s going on. If you think your country has some problems then you are about to be a bit of a shock because I’m sure nothing compares to some of the environmental issues in India. A whopping 65% of the land in here is degraded in some way, shape or form and the endless government policies do little to curb the damage. In fact, there is no shortage at all of government legislation protecting the environment but unfortunately it is never enforced due to flagrant abuse of power, corruption and lack of resources. If you have ever been to India you have undoubtedly noticed the serious little problem that they have in India. No, it’s not like here in the UK where a can of coke and crisp packet on the floor are a litter problem. India’s litter problem is almost a bit disturbing. The attitude is to just throw it on the floor, there are no bins, just drop it. That’s 1 Billion people disposing of their rubbish on the floor, every day. The scope of the problem is almost unimaginable and of course, it takes generations to change a habit like that but no one is starting. What they need here is education and that is what is seriously missing. With regards to environmental issues in India, India appears to be digging its own grave deeper and quicker than the rest of us, nearly 30% of India’s gross agricultural output is lost every year due to soil degradation, poor land management and counter productive irrigation. The wetlands and lakes are also being hit hard. Mainly by the industrial boom that hit India a decade ago, the main problems being improper disposal of industrial waste like chemicals etc. India’s 7516 km of coastline have also come under attack from this environmental sabotage, overfishing remains a huge problem due to lack of legislation enforcement. Raw sewage from an awful lot of people is pumped endlessly into the ocean along with other industrial waste and chemicals. Hundreds of miles of coral and other sea life are slowly being destroyed due to offshore drilling. Tourist centres such as Goa suffer due to badly managed development and excessive tourism, again resulting from the lack of legislation and policy enforcement. The main environmental issues in India The Environmental issues in India are huge. Whether it’s the rapidly dropping water tables, mass deforestation, land degradation or river contamination, India has it all and on a massive scale. Water resources Perhaps the largest of the environmental issues in India facing the people of India is inadequate or lack of access to vital fresh water resources. As India’s industries get bigger so will the amount of water they require and the amounts are already beginning to spiral. As an example I use the Coca cola factory which was accused for years of messing up an entire eco system. By simply diverting all the water to their factory, millions of people went without. The company are also accused of causing huge droughts and contamination to a massive area by exploiting an excessive amount of ground water and then replacing it with toxic discharge. Of course, Coca Cola is a big famous company and that is why this came to news but I have no doubt that there are a million examples of similar things happening all over India. Years of exploitation and extraction of groundwater in India has caused the national water table to suddenly and very dramatically drop. Considering that 85% of rural drinking water and 55% of urban water comes from underground sources, this seems to me a very urgent problem as literally hundreds of millions of people could be left without water†¦ does it even bear thinking about! The rivers are on the front line of pollution in India. Millions of people depend on them for their livelihoods but they are slowly being polluted and destroyed by sewage, chemicals and other agricultural and industrial waste. These are some of the most polluted rivers in the world but little seems to be to stem the incessant destruction. Deforestation The story of deforestation is another of the highly serious environmental issues in India. It is predicted that almost 5. 3 Million hectares of forest have been destroyed since the independence. Most of it being chopped down for housing, industrialisation and river projects. It is estimated that the number of Mangrove Forests have more than halved in the last 20 years. The government soon recognised the importance that these forests hold for the conservation of soil and put forward a range of polices trying to curb the destruction; of course, nothing has really changed and thousands of acres are destroyed every year with nothing in the way of ‘replacement’. Poor management and abuse of power are again the increasingly sad cause behind the mass deforestation of India, some call it greed. Protected areas are largely declassified so that commercial activities can take place but new areas are not reclassified. Poaching is another factor, people actually coming in and steeling trees and one of the final blows to the forest of India who already seem to have lost the battle is the invasion of foreign tree species such as Eucalyptus etc. Air Pollution India now has one of the worst qualities of air in the world. Without a doubt the main contributor of air pollution in India is the transport system. In the big cities like Delhi and Mumbai, millions of old and very dirty diesel engines churn out millions of tonnes more sulphur than their western equivalents partly because of being old and partly because of the diesel. As a result, the asthma rate for children in some of the larger cities is now at %50 and rising fast. Because of the varied causes and consequences surrounding this topic, I’ve devoted a whole page to India air pollution. Plastics and other waste I have already touched on the massive problem of waste disposal but I intend to go into it more here. It seems that some areas are simply fed up with the lack of Government intervention and are using there initiatives. As an example I use some of the towns and villages in Kerala who are seeing a return to the old paper bags from plastic ones. As I am sure you know, plastic isn’t in any urgency to degrade but the people of India don’t seem to recognise this as they throw every unwanted item onto the floor wherever they are. Of course, the victims of this environmental issue in India are the future generations and the animals. The holy cows that are so integral to Indian life are slowly being killed from the huge amount of plastic bags they consume that eventually rap around their insides.

Drinking Age Lower It - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 3 Words: 962 Downloads: 3 Date added: 2019/07/01 Category Society Essay Level High school Tags: Lowering The Drinking Age Essay Did you like this example? After Prohibition, nearly all states adopted a minimum legal drinking age of twenty-one. Then, between 1970 and 1975, twenty-nine states lowered the MLDA to eighteen, nineteen, or twenty. Advocacy groups urged states to raise their MLDA to twenty-one. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Drinking Age: Lower It" essay for you Create order Several did so in the late 1970s and early 1980s, but others did not. To encourage a national drinking age, Congress enacted the national MLDA. Congress passed the National Minimum Drinking Age Act in 1984, establishing twenty-one as the minimum legal purchase age. Today, almost 72% of teens who drink get alcohol without having to pay for it. Although a substantial amount of Americans claim that persons under twenty-one do not yet have the physical or mental capacity to handle drinking responsibly, drinking age should be lowered from twenty-one to eighteen due to the fact that persons at the age of eighteen are able to make important decisions and the prohibition of alcohol has been unsuccessful in the past sixteen plus years. Many Americans have argued the drinking age should either stay twenty-one or be raised due to the undeveloped prefrontal cortex. According to the National Center of Biotechnology Information, Cells that will produce the nervous system begin to form about three weeks after fertilization in humans, and cerebral maturation is not complete until an individual reaches his or her fourth decade of life. This means the prefrontal cortex, which is where the brain makes informed decisions, will not be fully grown until about forty years. Do American citizens want the MLDA to be forty? According to Health Magazine, Alcohol speeds up a neurotransmitter called glutamate, which is responsible for regulating dopamine in the brains reward center. In an underdeveloped brain, the neurotransmitter will react in a worse way causing the brains reward center to go insane. Ones judgment would be greatly impaired. Excessive alcohol consumption causes physical and mental impairment. Peoples under twenty-one will face major consequences in their persons. According to the U.S. Department of Health Human Services, there were about 189,000 emergency department visits by people under age twenty-one for injuries and other conditions linked to alcohol in 2010. Although this may pose a reason not to change to MLDA, studies done by the U.S. Department of Health Human Services show that the number of binge drinkers goes down significantly in nations where the MLDA is eighteen-twenty. Drinking by those below the age of twenty-one is also strongly linked with: death from alcohol poisoning and unintentional injuries, such as car crashes, falls, burns, and drowning. School performance problems, such as higher absenteeism and poor or failing grades, are linked with underage drinking in the U.S. This could be linked with the study that the number of binge drinkers goes up harshly with a higher MLDA. Citizens at the age of eighteen are able to get married, join the military, sign contracts, get tattoos, pay bills, and vote. These are all crucial and major decisions. Persons at the age of eighteen are able and encouraged to make adult or responsible decisions. According to the Conference of Local Bar Associations, at the age of eighteen your list of rights and responsibilities skyrockets from little to no legal responsibilities up to total responsibility for ones self. Citizens at the age of eighteen have the right to vote in national, state, and local elections, have the right to live independently from your parents and be free of their control, have the right to marry without your parents permission, have the right to enter into a contract, have the right to make a will, have the right to run for some elective offices, have the right to obtain medical treatment without the consent of your parents, have the right to apply for credit in your own name, have the right to work in al l types of jobs, and may enter military service without your parents permission. All of these important responsibilities but at eighteen a citizen cannot purchase or consume alcohol. The MLDA is eighteen-twenty in 116 countries. This list includes Australia, Canada, France, Greece, Ireland, and the United Kingdom. These are more economically developed countries (MEDC) just like the U.S. Attempts of alcohol prohibition have failed harshly, causing teenagers to drink less often but more rigorously. According to ChooseResponsibility.org, 90% of the alcohol consumed by persons aged eighteen to twenty is consumed when the individual is engaged in an episode of heavy drinking. Especially when understood in terms of the effect of large quantities of alcohol on the developing brain, this is an alarming statistic. According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, In 2017, about 7.4 million people aged twelve to twenty drank alcohol in the past month, including 4.5 million who were binge drinkers and 932,000 who were heavy drinkers. About three-fifths of underage current alcohol users, 60.7 percent, were binge drinkers, and about 1 in 8 were heavy drinkers, 12.5 percent. About one-fifth of underage binge drinkers, 20.6 percent were heavy drinkers. Prohibition is not effective and the age groups drop below eighteen and even twelve. In 2003, 29% of the underage citizen population who were current alcohol users. In 2016, 19.3% of the underage citizen population who were current alcohol users. In the U.S, underage alcohol consumption is allowed on private, nonalcohol-selling premises, with parental consent in twenty-nine states. The goal of the MLDA is to prohibit alcohol consumption in citizens under the set age. This goal has not been achieved in the slightest. On top of this, the prohibition of alcohol proves to increase alcohol consumption. Countries with lowered MLDAs are proven to have lower alcohol abuse rates. Drinking age should be lowered from twenty-one to eighteen due to the fact that persons at the age of eighteen are able to make important decisions and the prohibition of alcohol has been unsuccessful in the past sixteen plus years, harming more citizens than protecting.

The Impact of the Black Death on Europe - 1526 Words

Ring-around the Rosie, A pocket full of posies, Ashes! Ashes! We all fall down. Is a sad remembrance of a terrible event as expressed to a happy childrens nursery rhyme. â€Å"Ring around the Rosie,† describes the swelling in the lymph node. This swelling is circular making up the â€Å"ring† the center turns black and is surrounded by a red rash. The â€Å"Rosie† is the center of this reddish ring. The living began rotting before dying, healthy individuals used flowers to cover the odor. The poem shows attempts to get rid of the smell in the second verse, â€Å"a pocket full of posies† The posies represent fourteenth century air fresheners. â€Å"Ashes! Ashes!† Some may believe that the ashes represent cremation, the last line in the poem expresses death â€Å"we all fall down† no one survives the plague (1). The Black Death ravaged through Europe killing millions but its effect on France was most noticeable. Europe before the Black Death was not doing so well in any standards. Good farmland was overworked, new lands were producing little crop, the population had outgrown the land. The climate was cooling so peasants ate their seed grain and then their farm animals (2). When humans are exposed by the bacterium Yersinia pestis that will most likely become infected. This bacterium is transmitted through three main ways. Being bit by an infected flea is the most common way to become exposed to the plague. Contact with contaminated fluid or tissues were both common way to become infected. This is whenShow MoreRelatedThe Black Plague Of Middle Ages1257 Words   |  6 PagesMiddle Aged Europe was an expansive period of time and marked the beginning of the Renaissance. A period of time in which reformation of important social aspects such as religion, education, and the arts was active and advancing at a rapid rate. 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