A/68/156 especially the use of information technology and telecommunications systems for hostile or criminal purposes, and even for the commission of terrorist acts or acts of aggression between States or transnational actors. In recent years, the growing trend in Internet use by criminal organizations and, in particular, by terrorist groups has been confirmed. Such organizations and groups essentially take advantage of two of its characteristics, namely, its global nature and the high degree of anonymity that it can offer. The development of the information society and information technology must therefore be balanced with the simultaneous development of modern, up-to-date national and international regulations that are appropriate to the new technological environment and capable of responding to the challenges posed by the need to protect information in order to prevent its unlawful use without limiting individuals’ rights and freedoms. 2. Misuse of the Internet for terrorist purposes At present, the main threats arising from the use of the Internet by terrorist organizations are: (a) Use of the Internet as a weapon, i.e., its use as a means to launch attacks against critical infrastructure information systems or the infrastructure of the Internet itself. Attacks of this kind by common criminals are relatively frequent; however, the attack on Estonia in 2007 made it clear that a State’s information infrastructure can also be subject to an attack of this type. The considerable increase in new harmful software in recent years and the “botnets” or networks of “zombie” computers that are used to carry out attacks against information systems are directly related to this type of threat. (b) Use of the Internet as a medium for other activities, essentially: • Communication. Criminal organizations are increasingly communicating via the Internet instead of using other means, such as fixed or mobile telephones. The tools most frequently used to communicate securely and anonymously over the Internet are electronic mail, instant messaging programmes and online forums. • Dissemination of propaganda and terrorism-related materials. There are currently thousands of websites that incite violence or are related to terrorist activities; this trend has been accentuated with the emergence of Web 2.0 and social networking (“blogs”). Preventing terrorist organizations from using the Internet in this way is quite a complex matter since such websites can be very easily migrated. The phenomenon is transnational since the server that hosts the website may be located in a different country from the one where it is administered while the terrorist organization in question may operate in a third country; where there are no bilateral agreements between these countries, a legal vacuum is created. • Recruitment. The Internet is sometimes used as a means of carrying out recruitment activities, mainly through online forums and instant messaging programmes. 4 13-39735