When the writer of an infamous book for hackers says we should stop panicking about cyberwar it鈥檚 probably time to sit up and take notice.
鈥淕overnments should take a calm, disciplined approach and evaluate the risks of each type of attack very carefully rather than be swayed by scare stories,鈥� says Peter Sommer of the London School of Economics.
Under the pseudonym 鈥淗ugo Cornwall鈥�, Sommer published the infamous Hacker鈥檚 Handbook in 1985. Since then he has become a noted security researcher and expert witness. Now he has co-authored a report for the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) which warns governments against swallowing wholesale stories about 鈥渃yberwar鈥� and 鈥渃yberweapons鈥�.
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Published today, says that a true cyberwar would have the destructive effects of conventional war but be fought exclusively in cyberspace 鈥� and as such is a 鈥渉ighly unlikely鈥� occurrence. Like others, New 杏吧原创 has often used the term.
Cyber-spying
鈥淎nalysis of cyber-security issues has been weakened by the lack of agreement on terminology and the use of exaggerated language,鈥� the report says. 鈥淐yber-espionage is not a few keystrokes away from cyberwar, it is a method of spying.鈥�
Controversially, the OECD advises nations against adopting the Pentagon鈥檚 idea of setting up a military division 鈥� as it has under the auspices of the US air force鈥檚 Space Command 鈥� to fight cyber-security threats. While vested interests may want to see taxpayers鈥� money spent on such ventures, says Sommer, the military can only defend its own networks, not the private-sector critical networks we all depend on for gas, water, electricity and banking.
Co-authored with computer scientist Ian Brown of the Oxford Internet Institute, UK, the report says online attacks are unlikely ever to have global significance on the scale of, say, a disease pandemic or a run on the banks. But they say 鈥渓ocalised misery and loss鈥� could be caused by a successful attack on the internet鈥檚 routing structure, which governments must ensure are defended with investment in cyber-security training.
Jay Abbott, a security manager at the consultancy PricewaterhouseCoopers, agrees that the routing structure is indeed vulnerable. 鈥淪hort of physically cutting the wires, it鈥檚 the best way to take down a country from the internet,鈥� he says.
