Barry Collin, a senior research fellow at the Institute for Security and Intelligence in California, is attributed with the creation of the term “cyberterrorism” in 1997. He defines it as the convergence of cybernetics and terrorism [1]. A year later, Mark Pollitt, special agent for the FBI, came up with a working definition: “Cyberterrorism is the premeditated, politically motivated attack against information, computer systems, computer programs, and data which results in violence against non-combatant targets by sub-national groups or clandestine agents” [2].

Terrorism online is a collection of nine papers investigating the intersection of terrorism, digital technologies, and cyberspace. The book was organized under the auspices of the Cyberterrorism Project [3], an international, interdisciplinary research network that was established in 2011.

Chapter 1 introduces the book by discussing the dynamics of cyberterrorism and its role in recruitment, networking, and propaganda.

Chapter 2 explores a set of questions related to the use of the Internet by lone actor terrorists, the main question being if the rise of the Internet aided lone actor terrorists.

Chapter 3 provides an insight into hacktivist groups, their history, and their communication strategy.

Chapter 4 develops a new cost estimation model to make predictions about the feasibility and likelihood of “weaponized” malware being used for future cyber attacks.

Chapter 5 talks about moral panics and their role in understanding the discourse of cyberterrorrism.

Chapter 6 provides theoretical analysis of the extent to which punishment-based deterrence-oriented criminal law might be effective in the context of cyberterrorism. Deterrence is the use or threat of criminal sanctions as a behavioral control mechanism.

Chapter 7 discusses the effectiveness of surveillance by security agencies and the need to reconcile its practice with human rights.

Chapter 8 discusses the collaborations between the US and Europe in the context of counterterrorism and exposes their divergences.

Chapter 9 explores the appropriateness of international law on employing armed force against cyberterrorism.

It’s quite clear that the chapters were intentionally selected to cover multiple disciplines. This was driven by the recommendations of the Cyberterrorism Project introduced earlier. The main goal is to try to understand cyberterrorism from different angles and therefore provide a stepping stone toward more effective solutions.

The book is a nontechnical introduction to cyberterrorism. The reader will gain a broad overview of the topic and understand the multiple challenges policy makers, engineers, and security experts need to overcome for a proper counterterrorism strategy.