COMPUTER TECHNOLOGIES FOR COMMITTING SABOTAGE AND TERRORISM

The article discusses the problems that arise in connection with the crimes against state and public security committed by use of computer and network technologies. This topic is becoming relevant because some states have already experienced the effects of “combat” computer viruses, which can be regarded as waging war using cyber weapons. The most famous example is the attack by the Stuxnet computer virus on an Iranian uranium enrichment plant. The virus was created specifically to disable industrial control systems. The use of unmanned ground and air vehicles to carry out terrorist acts is of particular danger. The Russian military in Syria is constantly confronted with terrorist attacks: the Khmeimim aerospace forces base is regularly attacked with unmanned air vehicles - drones. Terrorist acts with the use of computer and network technologies are no less dangerous. The destructive potential of cyberterrorism is determined by the widespread computerization of state and public life, the implementation of projects to create smart cities, including smart transportation, as well as the intensive development of the Internet of things. The purpose of the article is to analyze new criminal threats to state and public security, as well as to study high-tech ways of committing crimes such as sabotage, terrorist acts, and other crimes of a terrorist nature. The cost of their consequences for society is very high, and criminals do not always need to attack social objects directly - it is enough to spread panic among the population using online media, social networks and websites of authorities of various levels, after obtaining illegal access to them. The article describes some of the techniques already used to commit crimes of sabotage and terrorism. The authors draw attention to the priority of cybersecurity both for engineers of devices with elements of artificial intelligence, and for lawmakers who should pay attention to methods of technical forecasting when developing legal norms aimed at prevention of new ways of committing such crimes. When writing the article, the authors used a wide range of Russian and foreign sources of legal, statistical, sociological and other information. The authors used such research methods as analysis, synthesis, deduction, induction, formal legal method as well as comparative legal method.