CJ 316 Assignment 4 MIDTERM

MIDTERM

Investigating Cybercrime

CJ 316

A

Part One

Terrorists Use of Technology

More then ever before, our country is being affected by both domestic and international terrorist groups. The world we live in today is not the same as it was twenty or thirty years ago. Our nations defense has risen due to the high threat volume of local and foreign terrorist groups. These attacks involve physical destruction of our cities and the lost of American lives; along with, attacks that may be on a lower spectrum such as, cybercrimes and movements of protesting. Is this the fate of our nation? How much more will the American government and American people take? Terrorist can’t do this by themselves. It takes strategic planning and the use of technology.

There are many terrorist groups that most people have heard about. Almost all of them have used technology to promote their ideologies and to get their point across to their people and the American people. The terrorist group that I will be discussing about is Al-Qaeda. Al-Qaeda is an Islamic terrorist group that networks in over 60 countries around the world. Experts believe that they have over 1,000 involved members in the group and were considered the “most wanted” terrorist group in U.S history. Al-Qaeda is the terrorist group responsible for the attacks on 9/11. Although most of Al-Qaeda’s attacks seemed spontaneous, a lot of effort went into recruiting their members. Prior to the use of technology, they would put their “ads” in radical and Islamic magazines that were sold within their respective communities. Here, people who were interested would but the magazines and gain authorization through an ad that they read. Over the years, it eventually turned into using the web to get their information out there (Phillips, 2006).

Much like ISIS, who is another international terrorist organization that is responsible for the more recent attacks on our land, used the internet to promote their attacks and threat’s. Like ISIS, Al-Qaeda used the web to promote their ideologies. If need be, the leaders would take capture of their own men, women and children killing them on live television; all while threatening the United States to come and do something about it so to speak. There were many militants involved in Al-Qaeda. Most of them were workers who subsequently quit their jobs to join the group. The “founder” of Al-Qaeda was Osama Bin Laden as most of you us already know. A few others to mention who were involved in Al-Qaeda are, Abdullah Azzam who was said to be a leader in the Sunni outbreak while engaging in war against the soviets. Atiyah Abd al-Rahman, who was said to be second in command prior to the death of Bin Laden in late 2011. Lastly, Ayman al-Zawahiri who was the operations chief for Bin Laden, controlled dynamics in correlation with the attacks prior and post 9/11 (Frontline, 2014).

The war against Al-Qaeda has been an ongoing phenomenon for over 20 years. Neither the United States or Al-Qaeda have won this war officially. America has had the upper hand due to strategic and analytical planning; along with, technology and the use of military personnel. Because of our technology and intelligence, we can detect some movements and possible attack areas but not an exact time of when they will occur. On August 23rd 1996, Osama Bin Laden declared war on the United States. In August of 2011, Bin Laden was killed by American Forces (Tierney, 2015).

Even though it has been 7 years since his death, the Islamic groups such as ISIS, ISIL and other Sunni organizations have tried to make up for the loss of their great leader. Although there were no legal actions specifically taken against Al-Qaeda, the loss of their great leader was enough to cause high tensions between both countries. Putting our military members lives at risk was the legal actions taken. There were rewards for information regarding the whereabouts of Bin Laden were. American troops asked the Iraqi and Afghanistan people if they knew where Bin Laden and his leaders were.

Regarding the technology that Al-Qaeda used, most of their technology involved surveillance of crucial buildings and areas of our airports and security systems. They would often use nationals to get into areas and surveillance the area before committing to an attack. They used photographs from computer files and Computer assisted design/computer assisted mapping software’s (CADCAMS) (Caruso, 2001). They have the element of surprise against their enemies. No one knows when they will attack but what American authorities do know is that, they plan their attacks well ahead of anyone else. They wait until the right time and then strike.

In conclusion, terrorist groups whether foreign or domestic, use technology to analyze how their victims act and react to attacks. They study them one by one. These specific groups that I mentioned in my midterm used technology to hit America’s weak spot, death of the innocent. Being situationally aware of our surroundings can help us remain vigilant. Al-Qaeda caused a lot of damage and pain; all while continuing the legacy with ISIS and ISIL. The home-grown attacks on America’s turf continue to happen. The great thing about technology is that, it can be tracked in both ways. They might not know it but, America shares intel and internet access with these terrorist groups. Now, we have the element of surprise.

References

Caruso, J. (December 8 2001). Al-Qaeda International. Testimony. FBI. Retrieved from

https://archives.fbi.gov/archives/news/testimony/al-qaeda-international

Frontline. (2014). Background: Al-Qaeda. WETA. Retrieved from

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/network/alqaeda/indictment.html

Phillips, J. (March 17 2006). The Evolving Al-Qaeda Threat. The Heritage Foundation. Heritage

Lectures. Retrieved from https://www.cia.gov/library/abbottabad-

compound/74/742419988184A31BCF8111B98D7DFA10_95223_1.pdf

Tierney, D. (August 23 2016). The Twenty Year’s War. The Atlantic. Retrieved from

https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2016/08/twenty-years-war/496736/

Part Two

Online Identity Theft

Identity theft can happen to anyone and at any time. No matter how much you try to protect yourself from this, there is always a possibility of it being your turn. However, there are protective measures that can help limit suspects from stealing your identity. Identity theft can play a negative role in your life. You will feel ashamed, embarrassed, humiliated and even overwhelmed. This act can happen by getting ahold of a social security card, taking old receipts from credit cards and even watching you put your pin into an ATM. In this second part of the midterm, I will be giving some examples of identity theft and how these people were able to get the information; along with, how you may be able to protect yourself.

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