Your Quick Guide to Cyber terrorism on Anti-Terrorism Day

Posted on: May 20, 2022 | 3 mins | Written by: HDFC ERGO Team

Your Quick Guide to Cyber terrorism on Anti-Terrorism Day

Cyberspace and the extensive use of the internet have opened many avenues and have made work and personal interactions easier. There is hardly any field today where there is no use of technology and where information is not available in cyberspace. The information is not only there in cyberspace but is circulated easily as well. This along with a huge audience and lack of regulations and laws governing and of course, anonymity has given criminals and particularly cybercriminals a chance to carry on wrong activities and use the internet to spread hate propaganda.

This can lead to huge losses and disrupt businesses but like other terrorist activities is not covered under cyber insurance.

What is Cyber Terrorism?

Cyber terrorism is where terrorist activities are carried out in the world with the use of the internet. Though this term was coined in the late 1980s, it started being used extensively after the 9/11 attack in the United States of America.

The term has not been very clearly defined but it can be explained as follows.

Cyber Terrorism is where the terrorists carry out violent activities with the use of the internet which can cause physical injury, loss of life, or threaten to do so to achieve ideological or political advantage using intimidation or threats.

When there is a cyber-attack, many computers that are connected to the internet are disrupted on a very large scale. Tools like computer worms, computer viruses, malicious software, phishing, programming scripts, hardware methods, etc. are used besides other tools to accomplish their malicious objectives.

This attack is done with political objectives to create fear among the public, cause destruction at a large level, and of course, target the government. National security is maintained using technology and invading this space and destroying strategically important information is the main aim of cyber terrorism.

Today, cyber terrorism has become of the biggest threats to the security of any nation as it has the ability to destroy life and create chaos internationally and not only in the country of the attack.

Why is Cyber Terrorism a Big Threat?

Terrorism is in itself a big threat and the effect it has on the world and on humans is irreversible. To add to this, cyber terrorism is a bigger threat as first there are not enough laws governing cyberspace and to add to this the growing technology and population pose bigger threats.

For example, India has a big population and is the second-largest in the world. Though digitalisation has helped India achieve a lot of growth and success, it has suffered a lot due to terrorist activities which have been carried out successfully due to the technology available. From the 26/11 terrorist attack in Mumbai to Pulwama or the URI attack, all used technology extensively, and India suffered a lot because of these deadly terrorist operations. Different forms of technology and communication have been used in all these attacks. Technology is growing leaps and bounds; the complexity of cyber-attacks has also increased multi-fold.

The main two features of cyberspace are interconnectivity and anonymity and the terrorist takes undue advantage of this to achieve their hidden agendas.

Crimes like financial fraud, identity theft, stealing information, and facilitating terrorist activities have become easier to conduct because everything is easily available and even the most secured systems can be hacked. Besides the above malicious code, malware propagation, website intrusion, ransomware attacks, network scanning, and data breach are some of the many cyber terrorism activities which have been reported in the last few years.

Back in the day, to attack a country, terrorists had to physically enter a country and then fight with the army. With the technology and cyber-attacks, a physical intrusion is not needed and they can sit in their country and target the security and peace of a nation.

In spite of understanding the dangers it poses, internationally, there is no unanimous consent on how to handle these acts of terrorism. Apart from an approach, as mentioned above, there is no definition of cyber terrorism that has been agreed upon by all. As these attacks are politically motivated, it is often cited as a reason for the lack of focus by all countries together.

Contrary to common belief, cyber terrorism is just not an invasion of the cyberspace of a country. On the contrary, it can not only cause detrimental damage to the security and other systems of a country but can also lead to physical devastation and damage to infrastructure.

Terrorists use cyber-attacks for the following two reasons:

● to carry on terrorist activities

● to execute terrorist activities

● to target the virtual population

Not all cyber-attacks are cyber-terrorist activities. For an attack to be called an act of terrorism, it should have political motivations and should cause physical or any other form of disruption or destruction which can affect the integrity, unity, and sovereignty of a country and can cause loss of life.

Cyber Terrorism and Cyber Insurance

Anything that causes disruption due to war has never been covered in standard property insurance policies and this remains the same in the case of cyber insurance as well. Acts of war are not covered in a standard cyber insurance policy unless specifically endorsed. Any add-on coverage depends on the underwriters of the insurance companies. Though cyber terrorism is a big risk in the present times, this has been proved after the 9/11 attack. It can cause a lot of destruction but acts of war are not covered. It is also a fact that it is ultimately the decision of the insurer to pay a claim and decide if the cyber-attack was an act of war or not. The attackers do not need to declare it for the insurance company to make a decision.

Conclusion

Cyber-attacks have been often heard of in the present times of digitalisation where every piece of information is available on the internet. Apart from financial and identity theft losses, there is a bigger threat that comes and that is cyber terrorism.

Terrorist activities in cyberspace pose a huge threat to a country’s security systems and to human life as well. Understanding cyber terrorism and the risks it poses is a must in present times. Most insurance policies, be it cyber insurance or property insurance do not cover acts of war and these losses are that only.

As fewer resources are needed by the terrorists, a cyber-attack is easier for them to work on than a physical attack. There is anonymity thus, no terrorist group has to reveal its identity and they can target any part of the world and any physical proximity is not needed. The benefits from a terrorist’s point of view are more but the level of destruction it can cause is huge and thus, many forums and organisations are working toward getting laws and rules in place.

Disclaimer: The above information is for illustrative purpose only. For more details, please refer to policy wordings and prospectus before concluding the sales.

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