Cyber Terrorism: A Study of the Extent of Coverage in Computer Science Textbooks

Abstract

Executive SummaryOn September 11th, 2001 the United States experienced the largest terrorist attack in its history. This event caused many government agencies to review their security practices and procedures. It also has raised awareness of other avenues that terrorists might pursue to achieve their goals, including cyber terrorism. Cyber terrorism can be described as politically motivated attacks in cyberspace. These attacks are intended to cause grave harm, such as loss of life or severe economic damage. Often the term "weapons of mass disruption" is used in describing these potential computer-based threats.The threat of these attacks intensified the need for more computer professionals to have computer security expertise. It also pointed to the need for students studying computer related fields to be exposed to topics in computer security, particularly the threat posed by cyber terrorism.We examined a random sample of sixteen textbooks in the field of computer security to determine the coverage dedicated to cyber terrorism. Textbooks typically provide resources for faculty to teach students various topics in a course -in this case resources to help students understand the potential threats, techniques, and targets of cyber terrorists.The results show that computer security textbooks do not give cyber terrorism the depth of coverage warranted by its significance for the IT industry. Therefore, faculty need to find their own references and re-sources to address cyber terrorism adequately in their class. This paper concludes by providing numerous web sites and trade books that can be used to help faculty provide more information to their students on cyber terrorism.

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