DATE=2/23/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=U-S CYBERTERRORISM (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-259497
BYLINE=JON TKACH
DATELINE=WASHINGTON
INTERNET=YES
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: U-S security experts say Russia and China
could pose a serious threat to U-S computer networks
in the near future. During a congressional hearing,
government and private industry experts told lawmakers
the U-S government does not have enough trained
technicians to ward off such attacks in cyberspace.
V-O-A's Jon Tkach (pron: Kotch) reports from
Washington.
TEXT: Fred Cohen, a computer scientist at the
government-funded Sandia National Laboratories, says
computer attacks such as the high-profile incidents
that brought down several popular internet web-sites
earlier this month are just the tip of the iceberg.
He warns there are many more serious threats lurking
in cyberspace.
/// COHEN ACT ///
But, they don't come from hackers or crackers or
most of the other actors that the media
associates with cyber-attacks today. The likely
effects of a serious attack would be long-term
disruption of supply chains like the power grid,
massive corruption of financial records or a
large-scale loss of confidence.
/// END ACT ///
He says groups with more dangerous intents and greater
resources are capable of using the Internet to
threaten U-S security.
Dan Kuehl, of the government's National Defense
University, says Russia and China could pose the
greatest such threat. He says Russian and Chinese
experts are known to be looking to internet attacks as
a viable military option.
/// KUEHL ACT ///
While we have not yet seen such attacks from a
nation-state, that is solely because no
nation-state or non-state actor has seen
sufficient strategic advantage to be gained by
doing so, and this situation will not last
indefinitely. The time to prepare against such
an attack is now.
/// END ACT ///
But, Mr. Kuehl and other experts testifying before
Congress Wednesday warned that the government does not
presently have the technical personnel to secure the
nation's computer systems. They say qualified
technicians are passing up government jobs to make
more money in the booming private hi-tech industry.
NEB/JON/JP
23-Feb-2000 16:08 PM EDT (23-Feb-2000 2108 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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