CYBER TERRORISM
In the contemporary dispensation of information technology, the ubiquity and anonymity associated with cyberspace pose serious security threats to users within and beyond state boundaries. The gravity of cyber-attack crimes emanating from different states has risen with a 36% margin from 2017, necessitating various countries to device strategies of curbing and dealing with such threats. Coordinated efforts between the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and homeland security are deployed by states in the US to mitigate the emergence and the effects of cyber-attacks in the country. This paper presents the potential responses which are relevant in fighting cyber-attacks emanating beyond state boundaries. Moreover, this paper compares and evaluates the relevance of the interventions deployed by both Arizona and New Jersey state authorities in responding to emerging cyberspace attacks.
Effective Responses to Cyber-Attacks Emanating From Outside State Bounders
One of the ideal interventions that can address the occurrence of foreign cyber-attacks in the state is through the creation of awareness among cyberspace users in a state concerning possible cyber-attacks. Walker et al., (2020, p, 56)credibly argue that internet users within states are vulnerable to foreign cyber-attacks because theylack enlightenment on the mechanisms and dynamics involved in cyber-attacks. According to the authors, the lack of information among users results in faulty securing of internet sites. The creation of awareness among internet users within a state is a relevant measure as it facilitates the development of appropriate precautionary measures that aid in fighting foreign cyber-attacks. Walker et al., (2020, p, 56) add that creation of awareness is an ideal response as it equips internet users in a state with information on the gravity and intensity with which the attacks are perpetrated. Such information facilitating the development of relevant virtual private networks (VPN) versions that can match the complexity of the imminent attacks.
Besides, cyber-attacks from the outside state can be prevented through the formation of multi-agency bodies that help in anticipating and addressing the potential cyber threats. A study conducted byWeisbord, (2019) on the effective interventions of foreign cyber-attacks reveals that states could form alliances with learning institutions such as universities in research centers in developing relevant strategies of curbing foreign attacks in various countries. According to the study, teamwork between state authorities and state universities provides an ideal avenue of curbing the occurrence of such attacks since universities and other established learning facilities have well developed cyber resources. State learning institutions are resourceful both in terms of technological advancement and academic enlightenment. Weisbord, (2019, p, 45). This phenomenon implies that states could major on established academic studies in devising and discerning the most appropriate preventive strategies to curb the foreign cyber-attacks.
Moreover, coordination between state governments and security apparatus within and beyond a state effectively responds to foreign cyber threats. Aidt, (2019, p, 109) argues that a well-organizedcollaboration between state authorities and the federal bureau of investigation (FBI) and homeland security is ideal in anticipating and preventing the occurrence of cyber-attacks from beyond a state’s boundaries. According toAidt, (2019, p, 109), contemporary security apparatus within states have been graced with advanced technologies and well-trained personnel who are well versed in emerging dynamics of cybercrime. In addition, a collaboration between states’ security apparatus provides internet users within a state with a reliable avenue of reporting any looming and unnoticed cyber threats. Such collaborations are important as they facilitate quick responses to cyber-attacks whenever they occur.
States can also respond to cyber-attacks from beyond the bounders effectively through the adequate training of internet users and employees in various institutions on the ideal strategies of practicing cyber hygiene. Tsagourias, (2019) credibly argues that training employees working within a state on safe usage of the internet is effectively reducing the vulnerability of the state to foreign cyber-attacks. According to the authors, training employees in state institutions is an effective response as it minimizes the blunders that could have caused an intrusion, triggered an attack, or even ostensibly allowing specific cyber fraud. A well-trained state’s labor force allows a state to conduct internet operations safely without posing vulnerability to potential hackers and cybercriminals from beyond the state.
The acquisition of cyber insurance is effective in responding to cyber-attack scenarios emanating across state bounders. O’Connell, (2020, p, 5) credibly argues that the state of Georgia, Arizona, New York, and Washington have adopted reliable cyber insurance as a fall-back option of mitigating the financial implications and other losses incurred through foreign cyber-attacks. For instance, the authors use the example of Montana cyber-attack of 2014 in which allegedly foreign cybercriminals hacked the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services’ server. According to O’Connell, (2020, p, 5), the state was able to recover from the losses incurred in the crime since it had secured cyber insurance for the state’s facilities.
Besides, updating of softwarein various institutions in a state is projected by Stoddart, (2019, p, 15) as an appropriate intervention to cyber-attacks originating from outside the state’s boundaries. According to the author, the constant updating of software in state institutions is effective in disorienting the efforts of hackers since they focus on known exploits, flaws, or potential loopholes in existing networks. Responding to cyber-attacks through frequent software updateskeeps potential hackers guessing on the available vulnerabilities and therefore reducing the intensity of their efforts. Stoddart, (2019, p, 15) further argues that responding to foreign cyber threats through software updates is effective as it misguides the links used by potential hackers in capitalizing on the targeted sites.
Stein, (2020, p, 29) also recommends that foreign cyber-attacks in a state could be intervened properly, securing the social media database of potential targets within the state. The author sufficiently postulates that foreign cybercriminals use social engineering techniques in establishing links such as personal information or institutional information featured in social media. Preventing a state’s social media database prevents potential cybercriminals from perpetrating identity theft, which is applied in committing various cybercrimes. Stein, (2020, p, 29) credibly depicts that encrypted social media databases are ideal in assuring the security of a state’s cyberspace in the face of potential foreign cybercriminals.
Cyber-attackslaunched from beyond a state’s borders could be responded to through the use of international or interstate legal policies. Stein, (2020, p, 29) argues that states could collaborate to combat cyber-attacks through joined international or inter-state legal policies. The author appreciates that combating foreign cyber-attacks is a gargantuan task that requires the cooperation of different state authorities in locating and pursuing existing cybercriminals. Besides, the author postulates that the use of inter-state legal policies is an effective anti-cybercrime intervention since it minimizes the complexities of jurisdiction, which limits the ability of authorities to pursue identified cybercriminals.
Comparison and evaluation of the responses deployed at both Arizona and New Jersey state in addressing cyber-attacks originating from beyond bounders.
Both Arizona and New Jersey states use legal interventions in responding to foreign cyber-attacks within the states’ territories. Back and LaPrade, (2019, P, 34)sufficiently highlight that the Arizona state authority amended its constitution on 11th April 2018 to demand of all cyber-attack victims to report any cyberspace breach incidences within 45 days of discovery. The Arizona State constitution seeks to emphasize urgency in reporting cyber-attack rates to the relevant authorities. Similarly, the New Jersey State constitution demands that victims of cyber-crimes should raise the alarm to the New Jersey government on attempted or breached cyberspace within 30 days of discovery. Both states’ interventions compare in deploying legal measures in instilling the need for urgency in reporting cyber-attack cases once they are discovered.
Akhgar and Brewster, (2016) laud the relevance of deploying legal policies in demanding immediate reporting of discovered cyberspace breach incidences citing that the strategy allows for easy tracking of the hackers’ traces. According to the author, urgent reporting of cyberspace attacks is an ideal response mechanism as it enables the security urgencies to retrace the hackers’ trails before the criminal encrypts their identity. Besides quick response to cyber-attacks, incidences ensure that the state governments have enough time to investigate, analyze, and make credible and reliable conclusions regarding cyberspace attacks perpetrated from without the states. Further, Blakemore, (2016, P, 23) lauds the relevance of deploying legal interventions in launching immediate responses to foreign cyber-attacks as the strategy assures of legality in pursuing cybercriminals from a different jurisdiction.
Moreover, the Arizona and New Jersey states use the critical convergence of information and development initiative in responding to cyber-attacks with foreign origins. According to Shestak, (2020, P, 46), Arizona and New Jersey states use the UN initiative of deploying world summit of the information society (WSIS) that places the cyberspace security at the center of international policy discourse. This initiative emphasizes that the involved states should share information with other states regarding nature, complexity, and the dynamics involved in foreign cyber-attack incidences. The authors argue that the UN-based initiative emphasizes the need for states to share information that will enlighten the residents and authorities in the specified states on the emerging forms of cyber-attacks.
Sharma, (2018, P, 16) sufficiently expresses the effectiveness of critical convergence of information and development initiative as a relevant intervention towards cyberspace attacks in both Arizona and New Jersey states. According to the author, the creation of an information summit between affected states is an important initiative as it allows investigators on such cases to gauge the intensity with which hackers are perpetrating the crime. This initiative is credibly essential as a result of the creation of an information reservoir that acts as a point of reference to analysts attempting to establish the dynamics involved in different cybercrimes (Geethaand Phamila, (2016, P, 23). Such information, which is ideal for inter-state sharing, includes the various types of technologies deployed by cybercriminals in launching the reported attacks.
In addition, both Arizona and New Jersey states’ authorities compare in their responses to foreign cyber-attacks as they result in the creation of Computer Emergency Response Teams (CERTs). Buyadji, (2017, P, 76) sufficiently reports on a similarity in the approaches deployed by the two states as both a well-developed and advanced team of experts who are mandated with responding and creating interventions to reported cyber-attack cases. According to Donalds and Osei-Bryson, (2019, P, 56) both states compare as they use CERTs in promoting the use of reliable security technology and in ensuring network continuity within the two states. The CERTs deployed in both states comprise of well-trained personnel who are sufficiently facilitated with the relevant technologies that ease the tracing of cyberspace crimes within the territory.
Guerra and Mackey, (2017, P, 67) depict the relevance and applicability of CERTs as cyberspace crime intervention strategy by arguing that the initiative allows the development of well-trained personnel in combating foreign cyber-attacks incidences. According to the author, the deployment of CERTs in responding to cyber-attack occurrences in both Arizona and New Jersey states is a relevant intervention as it guarantees professionalism in handling cyberspace attacks. Professional expertise is key in effective and reliable tracing of cybercriminal activities within the two states since hackers’ traces are complicatedly encrypted. This strategy guarantees efficiency and effectiveness in conducting after-attack searches, which lead to targeted hackers. Besides, a professional approach in combating foreign cyber-attacks ensures the effective use of allocated resources and therefore warranting the process’s affordability.
Besides, both Arizona and New Jersey interventions towards cyber-attacks compare as they emphasize the creation of awareness among internet users within the two states. Kim, (2020, P, 35) highlights that awareness levels on cyberspace attacks have risen with 65% and 56% in both states, respectively. Both states have embarked on sensitizing their populace on the safe and effective cyber conducts and hygiene, which guarantee the safety of the available networks. Kim, (2020, P, 36)argues that both states compare in responding to cyber-attacks since they emphasize on educating the internet users within the territories on the emerging safety measures such as the use of encrypted passwords in protecting the available networks.
The creation of awareness among the populace of both Arizona and New Jersey states in a relevant and useful intervention as significantly results in development of cyber-literate generations in both states. Leukfeldt and Holt, (2019, P, 26) laud the effectiveness of the awareness initiative citing that it results in a reduction in the level of vulnerability among many internet users within the two states. The initiative is an ideal intervention to foreign cyber-attacks as it reduces the level of ignorance and replaces it with useful precautionary attitudes among internet users, reducing the vulnerability of the populace and institutions within the states to potential cybercriminals.
Maras, (2019, P, 78)projects a further comparison in the strategies deployed by both Arizona and New Jersey states in responding to foreign cyber-attacks by highlighting the application of cyber insurance programs in both jurisdictions. Both states have developed credible and reliable insurance policies that guarantee financial assistance to victims of cyber-attacks originating across the states’ bounders. Insurance companies in both companies have formulated favorable packages that aim at facilitating cyber-attack victims to recover from the monetary losses incurred through cross-border cyber-attacks. Though the insurance packages differ depending on the nature of the cybercrime perpetrated, the underlying comparison is that compensation for damages is evaluated based on the losses incurred.
Romanosky et., (2017, p, 29) vehemently laud the relevance of deploying insurance covers in responding to foreign cyber-attacks citing that the initiative spares internet users adversities associated with monetary loss. According to the author, 46% of external cyber-attacks maliciously aim to cripple the targets’ financial potency. For instance, the author uses an example of unfair competition among companies that result in institution backed hacking with malicious intentions of inflicting financial losses to competing companies. In such scenarios, the use of insurance covers in both Arizona and New Jersey states credibly frustrates the malicious intentions of cross-border cyber-attacks in inflicting financial implication to the targets.
Both Arizona and New Jersey states compare in responding to cyber-attacks emanating from cross the states’ borders through creation of joined alliances with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Homeland security. The two states have established a well-developedplatform of engaging the security apparatus in anticipating, preventing, or even pursuing cyber-attack perpetrators within the jurisdictions (Romanoskyet,.2017, p, 29). The Arizona and New Jersey governments have incorporated the above stated internal security apparatus as a part of the CERTs which respond and handle cyber-attack activities within the territories. Both states compare in intervening to cross-border cyber-attack as they heavily rely on the analysis offered by the FBI and Homeland security on identified cybercrime evidences.
The incorporation of the FBI and the Homeland Security apparatus in responding to foreign-cyber-attacks is highly relevant as it results to concentration of various security techniques in tracking the traces of hackers. Stein, (2020, p, 29) lauds the approach deployed by both states citing that it facilitates easy analysis and evaluation of obtained evidence regarding a cyber-attack. According to the authors, the incorporation of internal security apparatus in responding to cyber-attacks is a justified ideology since cyber crimes are criminal offenses according to the states’ and the federal constitutions. Besides, this initiative is credibly relevant as it allows easy reporting of the cybercrimes to the relevant authorities. In addition, the intervention of the FBI and the Homeland Security allows for easy filling of suits against apprehended cyber criminals within the two states.
Further, both Arizona and the New Jersey states compare in their responses to cyber-attacks as they emphasize on inter-state collaboration in combating cybercrimes. The two states have established links between themselves and other states in the country in formulating joined approaches of anticipating and subduing potential cyber-attacks within the US. For instance, Arizona State has established joined forums with Georgia, Washington and New York states. Similarly, New Jersey State has formulated inter-state forums with Colorado, California, Arizona, and New York states which aim at addressing cyber-attacks unitarily. Stein, (2020, p, 29) highlights that both Arizona and New Jersey states compare as they both emphasize on approaching foreign cyber-attack issue jointly with other states.
Leukfeldt and Holt, (2019, p, 1) sufficiently credits the inter-state joined approach adopted by both Arizona and New Jersey states as it results to sharing of financial implications associated with addressing cross-border cyber-attacks. According to the author, combating foreign cyber-attacks is a gargantuan task that requires significant amounts of resources. Besides, Leukfeldt and Holt, (2019, p, 1) argues that formulation of inter-state collaborations is ideal in combating cross-border cyber-attacks as it eases on the jurisdiction complexities involved in the pursuance of cybercriminals. Cross-border cyber-attacks are easily compatible when various states are willing to allow investigations to be conducted within their jurisdictions. In addition, the formulation of inter-state collaborations is a relevant measure of combating cross-border cybercrimes in both states as it leads to the formulation of joined legal policies that seek to obscure the survival of cybercriminals within the involved countries. This phenomenon results in an effective uniformity and unison in combating and preventing the future potential occurrence of cyber-attacks.
Conclusively, the vastness of technology and information has ushered the challenge of cyber-attacks among various internet users across the world. The increasing cross-border cyber-attacks could be addressed by enlightening the masses in multiple states on nature and the dynamics of cybercrimes. Besides establishing collaborations with research centers and learning institutions such as state universities, it is ideal to anticipate and address the emerging cross-border cyber-attacks within a state. In addition, the establishment of cyber insurance packages is essential in combating cross-border cyber-attacks as it mitigates the financial implications intended by the cybercriminals. The available literature reveals that the formulation of collaborations between a state and the internal security apparatus such as the FBI and the Homeland Security facilitates the effective anticipation and subduing of potential cross-border cyber-attacks within a state.
Both Arizona and New Jersey states compare in their approach to cross-border combat attacks as they emphasize on legal policies in addressing cybercrimes. The relevance of using legal provisions in both states is that it emphasizes on immediate reporting of cyberspace breaches, which facilitates easy tracking of hackers’ traces. In addition, Arizona state and the New Jersey state compare in their interventions against cross-border cyber-attacks as they both uphold the convergence of information and development initiative of the UN, which requires states to share information with neighboring jurisdictions concerning imminent of perpetrated cyberspace attacks. The states are also similar in combating cyber-attacks as they both regard the use of insurance covers to mitigate the financial implications intended by malicious cybercrimes. Cybercrimes are ever dynamic, the interventions deployed by both Arizona and New Jersey states are sufficient in anticipating and subduing imminent cross-border cyber-attacks.
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