Cyber-Terrorism

Beginning with the evolution of personal computers in the 1980s, the term cyber-terrorism was coined in the late 1980s. Since then, cyber-terrorism has become a popular, yet dangerous topic in the world of computers. Cyber-terrorism refers to the sabotage of computer's interface by way of the internet. As the internet continues to expand, the threat of cyber-terrorism continues to increase.

Cyber-terrorism can manifest itself in a variety of forms. One of the most common forms of cyber-terrorism is a virus. Viruses can cause great harm to computers, including tracing a person's individual keystrokes or by opening attachments in emails. The consequences of viruses can be significantly harmful to a computer. It is very possible that a computer that obtains a virus will not recover from it and the end result will be the purchase of a new computer.

Another example of cyber-terrorism is hacking. Hacking is the act of illegally accessing records or files within a network; most of the time, the intent of hacking is to do harm. One instance is someone hacked into a hospital's computer system and changed the medical prescription of someone to a lethal dosage as an act of revenge; the person receiving the prescription died.

Proper protection is the key to safely avoiding cyber-terrorism. Over the last few years, as cyber-terrorism has increased, many different tools have been invented in order to help protect computers from cyber-terrorism. For example, anti-virus programs have been created for computers. Anti-virus progams run on computers and function in the background of the computer. If the program feels as though the user of the computer might be about to come in contact with a virus, the program will stop the virus from attacking the computer.

Cyber-terrorism is something that will probably never be completely stopped. As unethical as it is, cyber-terrorism continues to cause much harm to computers and networks around the world. While there are many companies creating programs and utilizing other abilities in an attempt to stop the spread of cyber-terrorism, the idea of totally compressing the spread of cyber-terrorism is not a reality.