Nations Warned by Security Vendor to Prepare for "Cyber War"

Suppose there is a serious cyberattack against the U.S. that takes down a portion of the internet... What should we do then?

It would almost be impossible to perceive a major cyber attack becoming a reality but in fact, it could happen according to security vendor McAfee.

Cyber warfare sounds really scary, however, this may be the truth someday. The computer security company McAfee made a conclusion on its analysis of recent net-based attacks on the very idea of a cyber war. The security firm informs and alerts computer users about a likely IT war! In the report McAfee said that there is little disagreement that there are growing numbers of cyber attacks over the Internet that more closely resemble explicitly political conflict than crime.

According to 2009 Virtual Criminology Report, the US, Russia, France, Israel and China are not only making ready their cyber-defenses but also they're making ready cyber-offenses to organize their own attacks. McAfee continued by saying that they have also seen evidence that nations around the world are uplifting their capabilities in cyber-space, in what some have pointed out to as a cyber arms race. While definitions of what comprises cyber war are not distributed, it was clear that many nations were preparing for a future in which conflict was partly carried on through the net.

A short while ago, the UK government announced plans for creating a central Office of Cyber Security (OCS) to handle the increasing level of online attacks. The report said that the OCS would have a role in coordinating offensive capabilities and, in extreme cases, would have the ability to mount a cyber attack in response to invasions on UK networks. The report also claimed that a cyberattack against government networks and critical infrastructures can lead to physical damage and even death. Dave DeWalt, chief executive at McAfee added that today the weapons are not nuclear, but virtual, and every person must be in-the-know of these threats.

Next, the report mentioned that in most developed countries, critical infrastructure is connected to the Internet and do not have proper security functions. This fact makes them a huge target for cyberwarfare. Therefore, installations are left to be affected. The report set up on contributions by more than 20 international relations experts, needs a public debate on cyberwarfare on how to control this new model of conflict. It was added in the report that without insight into the government's cyber-defence strategy, the private sector cannot be proactive and take suitable precaution, the report said.

McAfee declared that they hope this screen of secrecy around cyberwarfare needs to be risen. In addition, important questions, such as where to draw the line between cyber-espionage and cyber-war should be discussed. The report concluded that the consent of some nations to examine their cyber powers on others may indicate the beginning of a cyber cold war. If a major cyber conflict between nation states were to occur, the private sector could get caught in the crossfire.