Effects of Cyber Terrorism on economic & social life

Cyber-terrorism has also become an economical interest. With the heightened fear of cyber-terrorism, an “arms race” for better technological security in defending their equipment against the risk of cyber-terrorism threat. The rise in the number of consultants and also availability of security software and devices has become an economical advantage as the products they offer would be an increasing need with the increased dependancy due to the threat that might appear.

Here I would like to share with you some points regarding different effects of cyber terrorism in social and economical issues:

Direct Cost Implications:
• Loss of sales during the disruption
• Staff time, network delays, intermittent access for business users
• Increased insurance costs due to litigation
• Loss of intellectual property - research, pricing, etc.
• Costs of forensics for recovery and litigation
• Loss of critical communications in time of emergency.

Indirect Cost Implications:
• Loss of confidence and credibility in our financial systems
• Tarnished relationships& public image globally
• Strained business partner relationships - domestic and internationally
• Loss of future customer revenues for an individual or group of companies
• Loss of trust in the government and computer industry

The following cases are notable incidents of cyber terrorism:

During the Kosovo conflict in 1999, NATO computers were blasted with e-mail bombs and hit with denial-of-service attacks by hacktivists protesting the NATO bombings. In addition, businesses, public organizations, and academic institutes received highly politicized virus-laden e-mails from a range of Eastern European countries, according to reports. Web defacements were also common.

In 1998, ethnic Tamil guerrillas swamped Sri Lankan embassies with 800 e-mails a day over a two-week period. The messages read "We are the Internet Black Tigers and we're doing this to disrupt your communications." Intelligence authorities characterized it as the first known attack by terrorists against a country's computer systems