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Story URL: http://software.silicon.com/security/0,39024655,39170300,00.htm

Nato: Cyber terrorism 'as dangerous as missile attack'
Countries' recovery strategy - "weak"

By Nick Heath

Published: Friday 07 March 2008

Nato's cyber defence chief has warned that computer-based terrorism poses the same threat to national security as a missile attack.

Suleyman Anil, head of Nato Computer Incident Response Capability Co-ordination Centre, said a determined cyber attack on a country's online infrastructure would be "practically impossible to stop".

Security from A to Z

Click on the links below to find out more...

A is for Antivirus
B is for Botnets
C is for CMA
D is for DDoS
E is for Extradition
F is for Federated identity
G is for Google
H is for Hackers
I is for IM
J is for Jaschan (Sven)
K is for Kids
L is for Love Bug
M is for Microsoft
N is for Neologisms
O is for Orange
P is for Passwords
Q is for Questions
R is for Rootkits
S is for Spyware
T is for Two-factor authentication
U is for USB sticks/devices
V is for Virus variants
W is for Wi-fi
X is for OS X
Y is for You
Z is for Zero-day

Nations need to focus on improving their ability to quickly recover and get systems back online, an area in which nearly all countries were currently "weak", he told delegates at the e-crime congress in London.

Anil said the cyber attacks on Estonia last year which brought down key financial and state systems had demonstrated how cyber terrorism could take down national infrastructure with "very serious consequences".

He said: "It stands together with air missile defence and the global fight against terrorism."

Nato will set out an action plan for dealing with a similar infrastructure attack on one of its members at a state summit in Bucharest next month.

Anil believes the threat will continue to grow as terrorist groups become aware of its potential to cause maximum damage at minimal cost.

He said: "Cyber war can become a very effective global problem because it is low-risk, low-cost, highly effective and easily globally deployable. It is almost an ideal weapon that nobody can ignore."

Anil said attacks were becoming increasingly sophisticated, giving an example of a semi-autonomous Trojan which infiltrated Nato's open network.

He said the Trojan was scanning networks for statements on a certain underground project and then trying to implant itself on any network that mentioned it.

Nato's weapons of choice in fighting the cyber war are off-the-shelf virus scanners, intrusion prevention technology and forensic software, he said.

Countries also need to resolve issues of law enforcement across national boundaries and the technical challenges of tackling the spread of cyber crime, he added.