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The Internet in the terrorist activities
Thu, September 4, 8:00 to 9:15am, Communications Building (CN), CN 2103Abstract
The study aims to explain how the Internet is used by criminals to develop terrorist activities. In this regard, the study analyzes the illicit behaviour of terrorists on the Internet through two theories that explain the phenomenon of cyberterrorism: Social Learning Theory and Game Theory.
Social Learning Theory, developed by Ronald L. Akers, is a reference criminological theory in the study of criminal behaviour, which operates through four concepts: differential association, definitions, differential reinforcement and imitation.
Although Internet recruitment activities reduce the possibility of imitation in the physical world, terrorist groups use the Internet to provide the necessary information and directions online for recruits to imitate the terrorist activities carried out by group members.
By applying the four concepts of Social Learning Theory to the use of the Internet by terrorists, the study aims to provide a perspective on how the Internet is used to develop terrorist activities.
The fight against cyberterrorism can also be viewed as a game, involving the participation of two players: one who attacks computer systems or networks, the cyberterrorist and another who wants to protect computer systems or networks, a cybersecurity expert.
Game theory, developed by mathematician John von Neumann, studies the behaviour of people in different situations in which they must interact with other people, being an interdisciplinary approach to the study of human behaviour.
The study attempts to establish whether the probability of an attack depends not only on the expected time required to carry out the cyberterrorist attack, but also on how motivated the cyberterrorist might be.
The study analyzes an example of the application of Game Theory to cyberterrorism, used to predict behaviour regarding security and trust in computer systems and networks.