International Cyber Terrorism

did act as a catalyst in sparking the fears of a possibly large-scale devastating cyberattack.
Commentators noted that many of the facts of such incidents seemed to change,
often with exaggerated media reports.
The high-profile terrorist attacks in the United States on September 11, 2001 and the
ensuing War on Terror by the US led to further media coverage of the potential threats
of cyberterrorism in the years following. Mainstream media coverage often discusses
the possibility of a large attack making use of computer networks to sabotage critical
infrastructures with the aim of putting human lives in jeopardy or causing disruption on a
national scale either directly or by disruption of the national economy.
Authors such as Winn Schwartau and John Arquilla are reported to have had
considerable financial success selling books which described what were purported to be
plausible scenarios of mayhem caused by cyberterrorism. Many critics claim that these
books were unrealistic in their assessments of whether the attacks described (such as
nuclear meltdowns and chemical plant explosions) were possible. A common thread
throughout what critics perceive as cyberterror-hype is that of non-falsifiability; that is,
when the predicted disasters fail to occur, it only goes to show how lucky we've been so
far, rather than impugning the theory.
In 2016, for the first time ever, the Department of Justice charged Ardit Ferizi with
cyberterrorism. He is accused of allegedly hacking into a military website and stealing
the names, addresses, and other personal information of government and military
personnel and selling it to ISIS
On the other hand, it is also argued that, despite substantial studies on cyberterrorism,
the body of literature is still unable to present a realistic estimate of the actual
threat. For instance, in the case of a cyberterrorist attack on a public infrastructure such
as a power plant or air traffic control through hacking, there is uncertainty as to its
success because data concerning such phenomena are limited.
Conventions
International Attacks and Responses
As of 2016 there have been seventeen conventions and major legal instruments that
specifically deal with terrorist activities and can also be applied to cyber terrorism.
• 1963: Convention on Offences and Certain Other Acts Committed on Board
Aircraft
• 1970: Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Seizure of Aircraft
• 1971: Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts Against the Safety of Civil
Aviation
• 1973: Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Crimes against
Internationally Protected Persons
• 1979: International Convention against the Taking of Hostages
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