Page 191 - Cyber Terrorism and Extremism as Threat to Critical Infrastructure Protection

Addressing Challenges from Cyber Terrorism in Kosovo
Kadri Arifi

Global interdependence; rapid technological, industrial, scientific and transport development;
free movement of people, services and goods; new opportunities in cyberspace throughout
the world and the use of these opportunities by terrorist groups have given a more serious and
challenging dimension to threats of terrorism. Countries with better developed economies
and more modern industrial capacities are more likely to be exposed to cyberattacks or ter-
rorist acts. However, the same can also apply to less developed countries, because the use of
the internet there has increased in critical infrastructure sectors such as energy, water, health,
transport and communication. These systems improve the quality and speed of the services
provided, thereby helping organizations to work more productively and contributing in an
improvement in living standards. Nevertheless, in the absence of cybersecurity they are also
exposed to various risks, which lie in the inevitable ICT violation and can cause service short-
ages or even abuse of these services, causing potential damage (loss) to human life, economic
loss to a great extent, collapse of public order, terrorist acts and threats to national security.
The efforts of Kosovo’s institutions in the fight against violent extremism and terrorism have
increased significantly and consistently. As a result of all the measures taken by the Kosovo
institutions, both in terms of prevention and in strengthening international cooperation, as well
as criminal prosecution, the threats of violent extremism and terrorism have been significantly
reduced. However, the phenomenon of extremism and terrorism remains an ongoing chal-
lenge for Kosovo’s security institutions. Considering that currently the spread of radical and
extremist ideologies is almost entirely focused on the internet and social networks, there is an
imposed need to strengthen cyber security and the capacity to protect critical infrastructure
from cyber terrorism. In this respect, the lack of a strategy and mechanisms for cyber defence
can be seen as one of the major challenges to Kosovo’s efforts to combat cyber terrorism.

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