"At Light Speed": Attribution and Response to Cybercrime/Terrorism/Warfare

• NCJ Number: 219490
• Journal: Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology Volume: 97 Issue: 2 Dated: Winter 2007 Pages: 379-475
• Author(s): Susan W. Brenner
• Date Published: 2007
• Length: 97 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Issue Overview
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This article considers how and why offenders’ use of computer technology blurs the distinctions between cybercrime, cyberterrorism, and cyberwarfare and discusses why this blurring of distinctions decreases the ability to mount effective responses.

Abstract

The main argument is that the United States is currently responding in an ad hoc manner to different forms of cyber attacks due mainly to the lack of identification of the type of attack and a corresponding confusion about which authority should respond. The author argues that policymakers and the law enforcement community must consider the distinct and evolving nature of cyber threats and devise new strategies for dealing with them. This process is much like the evolution of modern policing, when new threats regarding urban crime forced the law enforcement community to evolve to handle those threats. In making this argument, the author maintains that the various approaches used by law enforcement entities in the recent past to respond to cyber attacks demonstrated appropriate effectiveness but that these approaches are becoming increasingly archaic as cyberspace expands and becomes a prime target for attacks of all kinds. The author presents a categorical analysis of cyberthreats involving crime, terrorism, and war, and explains why these threat categories are difficult to identify and investigate. Recommendations are offered for how to integrate military and law enforcement personnel into the response process that also includes the civilian population as partners. The author posits there are two ways to integrate military and/or law enforcement personnel with civilians without eroding the institutionally essential distinctions between them: (1) formally, through the creation of a new social institution to serve as a conduit for civilian participation; and (2) informally, in which civilians provide voluntary or ad hoc participation in the fight against cyber attacks. The use of a voluntary organization to recruit, train, and coordinate the activities of civilians in their efforts against cyber attacks is advised and is analogous to community policing techniques. Footnotes