Affiliations: [a] Department of Curriculum, Instruction, and Educational Psychology, Loyola University, Chicago, IL 60611, USA | [b] Center for Research in Information Management, University of Illinois, Chicago, IL 60607, USA | [c] Department of Information and Decision Sciences, University of Illinois, Chicago, IL 60607-7124, USA | [d] Stuart Graduate School of Business, Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, IL 60661, USA
Correspondence:
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Corresponding author. Center for Research in Information Management, University of Illinois, 601 South Morgan Street, M/C 294, Chicago, IL 60607, USA. Tel.: +1 312 829 8447; Fax: +1 312 413 0385; E-mail: kdesou1@uic.edu.
Abstract: The future of many terrorist related games or plans may well involve the cyber space. However, the literature on what needs to be in place to play the cyber terrorism game is scant. Most of the current attention given terrorism involves both probability and consequences related to the physical world. Focuses in “what-if” scenarios involve threats to the economy and the population from an enemy that has all the discretion in selecting the battlefield. This essay examines what cyber-terrorism means, the forms it may take and how it may occur, and safeguards that should be considered in preparation for cyber warfare through use of a semiotic model. To this end we draw from current theories involving semiotics, gaming, emergence, and complexity to ground our work.
