The new breed of cyber-terrorist
[Another article sent by Rob Mc, with thanks.]
"According to cyber-security experts, the terror attacks of 11 September and 7 July could be seen as mere staging posts compared to the havoc and devastation that might be unleashed if terrorists turn their focus from the physical to the digital world.
"Scott Borg, the director and chief economist of the US Cyber Consequences Unit (CCU), a Department of Homeland Security advisory group, believes that attacks on computer networks are poised to escalate to full-scale disasters that could bring down companies and kill people. He warns that intelligence 'chatter' increasingly points to possible criminal or terrorist plans to destroy physical infrastructure, such as power grids. Al-Qa'ida, he stresses, is becoming capable of carrying out such attacks.
"Most companies and organisations seem oblivious to the threat. Usually, they worry about e-mail viruses and low-grade hacker attacks. But Borg sees these as the least of their worries ....
"Until now, hackers have usually targeted credit cards or personal information on the web. More sophisticated hackers, however, are beginning to focus on databases. The type of data most likely to be hit, Borg says, might include a pharmaceutical company's drug development databases, or programs that manipulate data, such as formulas for generating financial statements.
"'Many attacks of this kind would have two components. One would alter the process control system to produce a defective product. The other would alter the quality control system so that the defect wouldn't easily be detected,' Borg says. 'Imagine, say, a life-saving drug being produced and distributed with the wrong level of active ingredients. This could gradually result in large numbers of deaths or disabilities. Yet it might take months before someone figured out what was going on.' The result, he says, would be panic, people afraid to visit hospitals and health services facing huge lawsuits.
"Deadly scenarios could occur in industry, too. Online outlaws might change key specifications at a car factory, Borg says, causing a car to 'burst into flames after it had been driven for a certain number of weeks'. Apart from people being injured or killed, the car maker would collapse. 'People would stop buying cars.' A few such attacks, run simultaneously, would send economies crashing. Populations would be in turmoil. At the click of a mouse, the terrorists would have won ..."
Independent
Tagged: terrorism, homeland+security, war+on+terror, internet, hacking, corporations
"According to cyber-security experts, the terror attacks of 11 September and 7 July could be seen as mere staging posts compared to the havoc and devastation that might be unleashed if terrorists turn their focus from the physical to the digital world.
"Scott Borg, the director and chief economist of the US Cyber Consequences Unit (CCU), a Department of Homeland Security advisory group, believes that attacks on computer networks are poised to escalate to full-scale disasters that could bring down companies and kill people. He warns that intelligence 'chatter' increasingly points to possible criminal or terrorist plans to destroy physical infrastructure, such as power grids. Al-Qa'ida, he stresses, is becoming capable of carrying out such attacks.
"Most companies and organisations seem oblivious to the threat. Usually, they worry about e-mail viruses and low-grade hacker attacks. But Borg sees these as the least of their worries ....
"Until now, hackers have usually targeted credit cards or personal information on the web. More sophisticated hackers, however, are beginning to focus on databases. The type of data most likely to be hit, Borg says, might include a pharmaceutical company's drug development databases, or programs that manipulate data, such as formulas for generating financial statements.
"'Many attacks of this kind would have two components. One would alter the process control system to produce a defective product. The other would alter the quality control system so that the defect wouldn't easily be detected,' Borg says. 'Imagine, say, a life-saving drug being produced and distributed with the wrong level of active ingredients. This could gradually result in large numbers of deaths or disabilities. Yet it might take months before someone figured out what was going on.' The result, he says, would be panic, people afraid to visit hospitals and health services facing huge lawsuits.
"Deadly scenarios could occur in industry, too. Online outlaws might change key specifications at a car factory, Borg says, causing a car to 'burst into flames after it had been driven for a certain number of weeks'. Apart from people being injured or killed, the car maker would collapse. 'People would stop buying cars.' A few such attacks, run simultaneously, would send economies crashing. Populations would be in turmoil. At the click of a mouse, the terrorists would have won ..."
Independent
Tagged: terrorism, homeland+security, war+on+terror, internet, hacking, corporations
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