Cyber terrorism not real: Gartner

[InfoSec News <isn () c4i org>]

http://www.zdnet.com.au/newstech/security/story/0,2000048600,20280859,00.htm

By Patrick Gray
ZDNet Australia
11 November 2003
    
Gartner's information security and risk research director has 
dismissed cyber-terrorism as a "theory".  

The comments came during a media round-table session at the Gartner 
Symposium and IT Expo, which began today in Sydney. The director, Rich 
Mogull, told journalists that despite the incidence of high profile 
digital attacks, cyber terrorism is a phenomenon that has never 
occurred. 

"The goal of terrorism is to change society through the use of force 
or violence, resulting in fear," he explained. "I want to put this 
cyber terrorism thing to rest. It's a theory, it's not a fact." 

Even though there were examples of attacks that has physical 
consequences -- such as the case of Vitek Boden, who was sentenced to 
two years in prison for releasing up to 1 million litres of sewage 
into the river and coastal waters of Maroochydore, Queensland in 2001 
-- they could not be described as terrorist acts, Mogull explained. To 
a large extent it comes down to motive, he said. 

"If a directed cyber attack on, say, a power system that... resulted 
in the blackout of an entire nation or a large region and deaths 
because of that... that would constitute cyber terrorism if they 
claimed they did this as a terrorist act," he said. "The motive will 
define what's terrorism and what's not." 

Mogull maintains the argument is largely academic -- it doesn't matter 
who's attacking an organisation, it should be doing the best it can to 
protect itself in the first place, whether attacks are coming from 
criminals or "cyber terrorists". 

"Let's stop running around being scared about these esoteric threats 
out there. Let's look at protecting ourselves by closing the 
vulnerabilities we know exist, and protecting ourselves from the 
attacks that we know exist," he said. 



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