08 February 2010: Chosun Ilbo
The threat of cyber warfare is on a par with that of nuclear warfare in the 1950s, according to a study published by the International Institute for Strategic Studies in Britain on Feb. 3. "The IISS agrees with the growing consensus that future state-on-state conflict may be characterized by the use of so-called asymmetric techniques," the think tank wrote in a paper titled "Military Balance 2010."
"Chief among these may be the use of cyber-warfare to disable a country's infrastructure, meddle with the integrity of another country's internal military data, try to confuse its financial transactions or to accomplish any number of other possibly crippling aims," it added. The threat will match the fear of nuclear warfare in the 1950s, it predicted. Although not a direct military assault, cyber-attacks can have a devastating impact by creating huge chaos, it claimed.
But the institute warned many countries are unprepared for cyber warfare and their action plans remain at the level of asking who attacked how and when only after the attack took place. It added there had been an increase of cyber attacks with sponsorship from national governments.
