Anatomy of Cyberterrorism

The United States is vulnerable to attacks from cyberterrorists. A "Digital World Trade Center Attack", possibly killing thousands and causing billions of dollars in damage. This paper will provide fundamental background information on what cyberterror is and what it means. It also presents a model to understand the anatomy of cyberterrorism, describing some real-world cyber events, assesses cyberterrorist capabilities, and finally makes specific recommendations for improvement in cyber security. This paper begins with a chilling scenario of cyberterror illustrating many aspects of potential future actions. The scenario is based 100% on real-world events that occurred within the past few years. The cyberterrorism model describes the anatomy of cyberterror and its components.


It is a descriptive model and not a prescriptive model. In order to fully understand cyberterror, one must first understand the cyberspace environment and its unique attributes. Then by analyzing the various components of the cyberterror anatomy, we can grasp the answers to basic questions: who, what how, where, why, and when. Only after one understands these basic pillars, can one fully understand the whole of cyberterrorism. The events of 9/11 caught us by surprise. We were unprepared and we now must broaden our expanded defense to include the cyber threat. Unless we take the appropriate steps to protect ourselves against cyber attacks now, America will surely suffer tragic cyberterrorist attacks that will have devastating impacts on our economy and will include loss of life.