Page 90 - Cyber Terrorism and Extremism as Threat to Critical Infrastructure Protection

SECTION I: EXTREMISM, RADICALIZATION AND CYBER THREATS AS AN IMPORTANT
SECURITY FACTORS FOR COUNTERING TERRORISM PROCESSES

structure. Contemporary cyber security legislation would lay the groundwork for strengthen-
ing institutional capacity, setting priorities, and clearly defining the meaning of the terminol-
ogy associated with cyber terrorism. Cyber defence, however, remains a challenge that needs
to be addressed by Kosovo’s institutions. The lack of a national strategy for cyber defence is
seen as a shortcoming in the security system, and a lack of protection of critical infrastructure
from cyber terrorism attacks. Also, this strategy would be more important for determining the
role and responsibility of the institutions and defining cyber defence, which is mainly used in
a military context, but may also be related to criminal and espionage activities. “Accurately
defining cyber defence is equally important. In the context of a specific environment, cyber
defences analyze possible threats and help to devise and drive the strategies necessary to
counter malicious attacks or threats. A range of activities are involved in cyber defence when
protecting the concerned entity and for responding to the threat landscape. These include:
reducing the appeal of the environment to possible attackers; understanding the critical lo-
cations and sensitive information; enacting preventive controls to ensure attacks would be
expensive; attack detection capability; and strengthening reaction and response capabilities”
(Galinec, 2018: p 15). Given this, in order to strengthen efficiency in the fight against cyber
terrorism, it is strongly recommended that the National Strategy for Cyber Defence, which
consists of following duties, Protect, Detect, Respond, and Recover, be drafted and approved.

6 Conclusion

The efforts of Kosovo’s institutions in the fight against violent extremism and terrorism have
increased significantly and consistently. The government of Kosovo has made countering ex-
tremism and terrorism a priority, and has taken positive steps in drafting new legislation and
creating a responsible state mechanism. As a result of the measures taken by the Kosovo in-
stitutions, both in terms of prevention and of strengthening international cooperation, as well
as criminal prosecution, the threats of violent extremism and terrorism have been significantly
minimized. So far, Kosovo has not directly faced terrorist or cyber-terrorist attacks, but what
currently challenges Kosovo the most is the dimensions of the spread of extremist ideology
and Islamic radicalism through the internet, which may possibly increase the phenomenon
of cyber terrorism. Cyber-terrorism is an increasingly attractive choice for terrorists because
it can be accomplished with only modest financial resources, with anonymity, and from a
great distance. The use of cyberspace for terrorist purposes in Kosovo is limited to spreading
propaganda and the ideology of Islamic radicalism, but it also supports terrorist activities. A
20-year-old computer science student from Kosovo, during his stay in Malaysia, intervened
in the US Department of Defence’s systems, stealing personal data from US soldiers, which
he passed on to senior ISIS terrorist structures.

In Kosovo, the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) has been spread-
ing rapidly, and ICTs play important roles in all aspects of life. Internet penetration in Kosovo
is 88.8%, which is similar to the EU average, and Kosovar habits in cyberspace tend to be also
similar to global trends. So, given the massive use of the internet in Kosovo, and the many
young people indoctrinated with extremist views who have the ability to use the internet,
which can be used either in support of terrorist activities or for cyber-terrorism attacks, it is
necessary that the security institutions in Kosovo prioritize the fight against this phenomenon.
There is an imposed need to strengthen cyber security and the capacity to protect critical
infrastructure from cyber terrorism. It is necessary to complete the legal infrastructure and

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