War on terror spills into cyberspace

President Bush has taken his anti-terrorism campaign to the internet with the appointment of a cyberspace security director.

Richard Clarke, previously the man who warned of cyber-terrorist attacks on the US, will take up the position.

Tim Pickard, strategic marketing director at RSA Security, said: "It's quite clear from 11 September that things have been in planning for a long time and it's very likely that terrorists have considered cyber-terrorism."

A fact sheet from the US Department of State said in the event of a cyber-attack, Clarke will coordinate efforts to restore critical systems.

Pickard added: "The aim of an attack would be to create as much disruption as possible. An attack on the stock market could cause certain stocks to sell. Overall our infrastructure is quite fragile, consider the oil crisis and the empty supermarket shelves it caused last year," he said.

"It wouldn't take much to impact our infrastructure quite significantly," Pickard added.

Clarke will be Bush's principle advisor on matters related to cyberspace security and will also serve as chairman of a government-wide board that aims to coordinate the protection of critical information systems.

Clarke's appointment comes days after ex-Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge was made director of the Office of Homeland Security and retired Army General Wayne Downing became national director for combating terrorism.