Feasibility of a Cyber Attack on National Critical Infrastructure by a Non-State Violent Extremist Organization

摘要

This study describes the possibility of a Violent Extremist Organization's (VEO's) capacity to perform an attack upon national critical infrastructure and key assets causing 'mass disruption' or 'mass destruction'. Emphasis is placed upon Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems in an effort to identify vulnerabilities that a non-state actor could utilize to conduct a cyberattack, including the energy sector's architecture, potential vulnerabilities, and limitations. An emerging VEO's ideology, capacity, cyber sophistication, and target type are evaluated. An analysis and discussion of an attack scenario's results are followed by limitations, conclusions, and recommendations for future areas of study.