No country can be complacent over cyber warfare, expert warns

Oct 6 2008 4:40PM

Cyber attacks have an increasing role in modern warfare and no country should become complacent, one expert warns.

What happens in other countries can have a ripple effect and result in "collateral damage" for the rest of the world, states Howard Schmidt, president of the Information Security Forum, in an article for ComputerWeekly.com.

"What many of us call blended threats, which combine physical and electronic attacks, may become a problem in the future," he warns.

"If IT systems are disrupted at the same time a physical terrorist attack takes place, recovery could be more difficult for governments and their defence and emergency services."

This would compound the impact of the event and, as the integrity of essential data is compromised, create a loss of trust and confidence, Mr Schmidt adds.

Last week a US government official said that an offensive cyber warfare capability would act as a "necessary deterrent".

Jim Langevin, chairman of the White House cybersecurity subcommittee, told United Press International that the country should do more to develop cyber warfare.