http://www.geelonginfo.com.au/readarticle.asp?articleid=17908 MICHAEL AUCIELLO November 25, 2005 A CYBER terrorism attack is not a case of if, but when, according to a Monash University academic. Chris Beggs told an information warfare and security conference at Deakin University yesterday that an internet-based attack was only a matter of time away. ``It's not too far off,'' he said. ``It's only a matter of time, I believe, that a cyber-terrorism attack will occur.'' The cyber-terrorism sessional academic yesterday put his case forward for a proposed cyber-terrorism capability framework. Mr Beggs' proposal included seven criteria which all need to be satisfied for an attack to be officially classified as a cyber-terrorist attack. The criteria includes: POLITICAL motivation; TERRORIST leaders with advanced information and a communication technology (ICT) skill set; TERRORISTS with advanced hacking tools and techniques; ACCESS to new advanced ICTs; ADVANCED knowledge of SCADA (intelligence) systems; TERRORIST insiders within the organisation of selected target; and FUNDING Mr Beggs said all seven criteria had to be satisfied for an act to be considered a real cyber-terrorist attack. He cited an example of a former council worker in Queensland who in 2001 hacked into a sewerage system 46 times and released a million litres of sewerage into local rivers and waterways. Mr Beggs said the man, who carried out the operation via a wireless laptop, had satisfied all criteria except for being politically motivated. The act was therefore not considered to be a proper cyber-terrorist attack and should just ``serve to act as a warning'' about the potential for such an act to be carried out on home soil. He said the criteria would be used to assess a terrorist group's capability to orchestrate a cyber-terrorism attack. ``The more capabilities acquired, the higher possibility of pulling off an attack,'' he said. He said the threat of a cyber attack became more imminent as terrorists learned more about information and communication systems. He said US authorities had warned ``Al-Qaeda has far more interest in cyber-terrorism than first thought''. ``These attacks could destroy infrastructure systems such as phone systems, power systems, water, gas or nuclear power plants,'' he said. Mr Beggs said terrorist groups were already using the internet for a range of reasons, including planning, propaganda, hacking, communication, fundraising, recruiting and training. _________________________________________ Earn your Master's degree in Information Security ONLINE www.msia.norwich.edu/csi Study IA management practices and the latest infosec issues. Norwich University is an NSA Center of Excellence.
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.3 : Mon Nov 28 2005 - 01:40:14 PST