Cyberterrorism involved in the Georgian/Russian Conflict

Cyberterrorism has been the stuff of science fiction for decades now. Movies like Ghost in the Shell, Swordfish, and the most recent Die Hard movie are only a few examples of a very popular trend. While these are quite fictional and outlandinsh representations of cybercrime, there is some factual basis to these accounts (albeit with real computers that don't make all those obnoxious wizbang noises so often heard in films).

There are many examples of this type of cybercrime occurring, though it is generally far more subversive and less overt than many stories. All three electrical grids within the continental US are known to have been targeted (east, central, west), and in 1999, hackers targeted the NATO website in protest to the bombings in Kosovo. The most recent and massive attack to date was carried out during the Georgian and Russian Conflict during the summer of 2008. Just prior to the Russian offensive, most of the websites belonging to the Georgian Government were shut down due to Directed Denial of Service attacks. Georgian hackers reacted quickly, shutting down Russian news sites, and in some instances replacing them with pro-Georgian news feeds.

Attacks of this nature are generally carried out by 'bot-nets' such as the Storm Virus of several years ago. Bot-nets are a collection of computers that have been infected and 'zombified' with a computer virus that allows the infecting hackers control over much of that computer's processing power and internet bandwidth. Hackers can direct this power (sometimes hundreds of thousands of computers worth) at specific targets and disable websites by essentially overloading their bandwidth, preventing legitimate users from accessing them.

While there is basis to the fantasy of cyberterrorism, it's nowhere near as prevalent as many fictional sources make it to be. But, like all other areas of human endeavor, technology is far more interesting when involved with crime.