Cyber attacks and terrorism
Dex Yuan’s 2021 presentation compares attacks in physical and digital spaces. Cyber attacks and cyber terrorism can use similar tools such as phishing, malware, ransomware, denial of service or website defacement, but motivations and objectives differ. Not every cybercrime is terrorism. Home working and online transactions can increase attack surfaces and vulnerabilities.
Assets and three assessment dimensions
Identify people, property, information, intellectual property, personal data and money. The workshop scores five criteria in each dimension from one to three, then averages them. Its model is a teaching method rather than a statutory scoring rule.
| Dimension | Criteria |
|---|---|
| Threat | Resources, knowledge, past threats, asset accessibility and symbolic value |
| Vulnerability | Susceptibility, attack surface, controls, redundancy and recovery period |
| Impact | Money, customers, business disruption, reputation and injury/loss of life |
Rating tables and worked example
For the three dimensions, average scores 0–1 are labelled low, 1.1–2 medium and 2.1–3 high in the slides. Overall risk is threat × vulnerability × impact, with 1–9 low, 10–18 medium and 19–27 high. The displayed rounded example is 2.2 × 2.4 × 2.4 = 12.7, classified medium. These slide bands have gaps for some decimal values; if using a real scoring system, define rounding and boundaries consistently.
| Dimension | Five scores | Average |
|---|---|---|
| Threat | 3, 2, 3, 2, 1 | 2.2 |
| Vulnerability | 2, 2, 2, 3, 3 | 2.4 |
| Impact | 3, 3, 3, 2, 1 | 2.4 |
Reduce vulnerability and impact through the three Ps
Prepare the workforce with training and a cyber lead; protect systems through antivirus, updates, backups and continuity plans; partner the community through industry networks, alerts and current contacts. A lead may work with IT, HR, operations, an outsourced provider, the SGSecure representative and data-protection officer. Use multiple communication methods and test the plan.