Year: 2003
Type: article
Abstract: W e can say with some certainty, al Qaeda loves the Internet.When the latter first appeared, it was hailed as an integrator of cultures and a medium for businesses, consumers, and governments to communicate with one another.It appeared to offer unparalleled opportunities for the creation of a "global village."Today the Internet still offers that promise, but it also has proven in some respects to be a digital menace.Its use by al Qaeda is only one example.It also has provided a virtual battlefield for peacetime hostilities between Taiwan and China, Israel and Palestine, Pakistan and India, and China and the United States (during both the war over Kosovo and in the aftermath of the collision between the Navy EP-3 aircraft and Chinese MiG).In times of actual conflict, the Internet was used as a virtual battleground between NATO's coalition forces and elements of the Serbian population.These real tensions from a virtual interface involved not only nation-states but also non-state individuals and groups either aligned with one side or the other, or acting independently.Evidence strongly suggests that terrorists used the Internet to plan their operations for 9/11.Computers seized in Afghanistan reportedly revealed that al Qaeda was collecting intelligence on targets and sending encrypted messages via the Internet.As recently as 16 September 2002, al Qaeda cells operating in America reportedly were using Internet-based phone services to communicate with cells overseas.These incidents indicate that the Internet is being used as a "cyberplanning" tool for terrorists.It provides terrorists with anonymity, command and control resources, and a host of other measures to coordinate and integrate attack options.Cyberplanning may be a more important terrorist Internet tool than the much touted and feared cyberterrorism option-attacks against information and systems resulting in violence against noncombatant targets.The Naval Postgrad-112 Parameters
Author: Timothy L. Thomas
Language: English
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W101708024