A TYPOLOGY OF HACKERS IN CYBER TERRORISM

A TYPOLOGY OF HACKERS IN CYBER TERRORISM

In the prior posts I’ve explained about the cyber terrorism and what it is, also mentioned some real cases which occurred in real life. But the most important issue in this level is the person(s) who perform an attack. So in this post I would like to share my knowledge that I gained from different articles about classifying attackers with my honourable blog readers.

At the heart of cybercrime are the hackers. These people are the ones with the skills to commit the crimes, and an interesting way to look at them is to focus upon the lifestyles and personalities of hackers. The first typology comes from Maxfield (1985):

· Pioneers : those who are fascinated by evolving technology and explore it without knowing exactly what they are going to find

· Scamps : hackers with a sense of fun who intend no overt harm

· Explorers: hackers motivated by a delight in breaking into computer systems. The more geographically distant, or more secure the target it, the greater the delight

· Game players : those who enjoy defeating software or system protection, with hacking seen as a sort of game itself

· Vandals : those who cause damage for no apparent gain

· Addicts : nerds who are literally addicted to hacking and computer technology

A second typology (Coutourie 1989) describes the relationship of a hacker to their computer:

· Playpen : in which the computer is seen as a toy

· Fairyland : where cyberspace is an unreal world where wrong cannot be done

· Land of opportunity : where there's nothing wrong with exploiting a vulnerable system

· Tool box : in which the computer is just a way to get other things done

· Cookie jar : with the computer as a place to go borrow things now and again

· War game : where hostile feelings are vented against machines rather than people

There have been no known attempts to apply these typologies to real-life case studies, although allow me to give you some cases, and let you see if you can apply anything yourselves:

Case Studies of Hackers
"Captain Crunch"	In 1972, "Capt. Crunch" aka John Draper, realized that by blowing the whistle that came in Capt. Crunch cereal boxes, he could replicate the tones necessary to place free long-distance phone calls. He spent some time on probation and in prison, then went to work for Apple Computer.
Kevin Mitnick	In 1994, Mitnick was the world's most wanted hacker for breaking into Digital Equipment's computers and stealing source codes. He served some years in prison, then became a book author.
Kevin Poulsen	In 1995, Poulsen, a friend of Mitnick's, broke into FBI computers. He spent some years in prison, and is now a computer security journalist.
"Mafiaboy"	In 2000, this Canadian boy launched denial-of-service attacks on CNN, Yahoo, and other major websites. He ended up under house arrest and was restricted from using the Internet.
Onel DeGuzman	In 2000, this Filipino computer science student unleashed the "ILOVEYOU" virus on the Net. He went unpunished because the Philippines had no law covering the crime.

As conclusion, Cyber terrorism does not need to deploy forces by ship, plane, or truck. There are no logistical delays or the usual indicators and warnings. Cyber attacks could be used to disable defences and blind intelligence capabilities in preparation for a devastating kinetic strike. These methods can slow the reactions of defenders by clouding their operation picture or fouling their communications means. Cyber attacks could bring down key command and control nodes altogether, paralyzing any response to the attack.