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the attack. Law enforcement agencies handling these attacks must carefully
consider any response since the response is capable of damaging not only the
criminal/terrorist target, but also several unintended targets due to the integrated
nature of society in the Cyber Age.
Additionally, it is difficult for citizens and law enforcement agencies to
measure the “intent” of electrons. They may appear harmless when they enter
your computer as a file, only to appear as a virus carrier or some type of logic
bomb upon closer examination. Further, the use of electrons is scalable to an
extent not feasible with most weapons in matters of both effect and size.
Electronic attacks can be administered in small or large doses by individual
hackers or entire detachments, and they can be increased or decreased on
demand. Since the characteristics of an electron stream (invisible, anonymous,
unknown intent, quantity, etc.) are vague, this makes any law enforcement
response against a criminal electronic attack tricky at best.
These characteristics of the Information Age generate a host of
questions for analysts and investigators to consider and act upon. For example,
consider just the issue of anonymity. Is the reliability of a response negated due
to anonymity, and if that is the case, 540 then how and against whom is the
response to be directed? Should the attack be against the most likely aggressor
even if one is not 100% certain? Is some type of proportionality response more
desirable? Will one nation destroy another nation= s information infrastructure
only to later ascertain that the attacker is an individual, a Aunivirusbomber@?
In light of such issues, what mechanisms are there for law enforcement
agencies to control the use of these weapons? Further, is there a profile that fits
the cyberterrorist or criminal? Who commits these cybercrimes? Since anyone
with illegal intent and even a minimum of computer skills could find a way to
involve a computer in almost any type of crime, there are a huge number of
potential candidates. Think about it—a disgruntled employee who wants to
inflict damage or to steal proprietary data for resale or personal gain is a
candidate.
Three things are required for an incident to be considered a crime:
motivation, access, and capability. The motivation may be as simple as
“because it was there,” or it may be to show power and expertise to other
hackers, or it may be for a more sinister purpose such as corporate or
government espionage. Access will vary depending on the computer system
540 The attacker may eventually be exposed, but time plays a key role as a nation can
only wait so long to respond.
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