Cyberterrorism refers to the use of digital attacks to cause significant harm to critical infrastructure, government systems, or the public for political, ideological, or religious reasons. In this case, hackers manipulated data to disable a national energy infrastructure, which classifies as cyberterrorism since it causes disruption with potentially life-threatening consequences.
Unlike cyberespionage (spying for intelligence gathering) or an advanced persistent threat (APT, which is typically long-term data theft), cyberterrorism aims to instill fear, cause disruption, and further political agendas.
Cybersecurity Ethics & National Security – Protecting critical infrastructure from malicious attacks is an ethical obligation under cybersecurity policies.
Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA, 1986) – Criminalizes hacking attempts against government and national infrastructure.
Utilitarian Ethics (Greatest Harm Principle) – Cyberterrorism has no ethical justification due to its potential harm to innocent civilians.
ACM & IEEE Ethical Standards – Encourage responsible cybersecurity practices to prevent malicious attacks on infrastructure.
Relevant Ethical References in Technology:Thus, the correct answer is B. Cyberterrorism, as the attack targets national infrastructure for political goals.
