Daniel Gordon

@danny @vortex_egg @dox @thegrugq @chicagocyber +1 to the vague/nebulous/“different depending who you ask” definition of terrorism being problematic for this discussion. Also, calling something terrorism doesn’t accomplish anything meaningful.

Despite that, making threats is often THE major component of terrorism. I think ransomware and other digital blackmail scams, especially ones with implied societal impact, already meet whatever vague threshold we have for being terrorism. Was Colonial Pipeline terrorism? Sure why not. Threats to leak data, especially intimate images or therapy recordings? Probably. Online brigading including threats of violence and/or rape? A bunch of folks call it stochastic terrorism. DDoS threats? I hate the entire idea of calling it terrorism but 🤷‍♂️.

A huge amount of digital crime activity could be called terrorism if we felt like it or if that designation mattered.

Nov 29, 2022 at 10:16amWeb
Show threadDanny MooreNov 29, 2022
@ValidHorizon @vortex_egg @dox @thegrugq @chicagocyber I get what you're going for here and I understand that lens. I do think that trying to label anything that creates public concern/harm as terrorism is generally unhelpful as a definition. Personally, I'd want to see (a) a political motivation, (b) violence or credible threat of violence, and (c) civilian targets, as the classic trio.
Show threadthe grugqNov 29, 2022

@danny @ValidHorizon @vortex_egg @dox @chicagocyber

I agree with Danny.

An important component of any definition of terrorism is that the activity itself cannot be the goal. That is, disabling colonial pipeline was the objective of the attack because there would be payment to restore it. This is not the same as bombing a bus stop, where the objective is not “cause a mess at a bus stop” but rather “promote an agenda.”

All of those cyber crime activities could be terrorism if they were perpetrated for a higher purpose. They’re not though. The action is itself the goal, or it is part of a money making scheme where money is the goal. There is no political dimension.

Show threadDaniel GordonNov 29, 2022

@dox @vortex_egg @chicagocyber @thegrugq @danny I get what you’re saying but even a casual examination of some of the things that have already been referred by western countries as terrorism include lots of ransom demands, money-making schemes, economic motivations, or non-sensical requests that are only tangentially linked to politics, as well as threats against inanimate objects. (So not really violence?) Obviously plenty of places where the definition of terrorism = journalism.

Even if you could arrive at an actual definition, the designation is meaningless but have fun?

Show threadDaniel GordonNov 29, 2022
@chicagocyber @thegrugq @vortex_egg @dox @danny also just for the record this is the definition in most of the US
Show threadDanny MooreNov 29, 2022
@ValidHorizon @chicagocyber @thegrugq @vortex_egg @dox I never said I sponsor the US government's application of the term "terrorism" and it's really not what I'm aiming for with my original question.