Cyber Terrorism a real threat: Experts

Cyber terrorism is the new face of terrorism, feel experts. Speaking on the issue, while on a visit to India, international security specialist Michael Kemp said that cyber terrorism is the new face of terror and it can have a major impact on the infrastructure. He was among the experts who attended a program on Cyber Safety Awareness Week, jointly organized by Pune city police’s cyber cell, Data Security Council, India, and National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM).

Kemp, who spoke on ‘Attack on critical infrastructure and security measures’, said that future wars may not be fought geographically, but rather on intellectual terrains. He pointed towards eight key targets that are vulnerable to a cyber terror attack. He said that the any harm to these could have serious implications on national security, defense, as well as economy, as they rely heavily on computer networks for their smooth functioning. The ‘soft targets’ pointed out by the experts include, government operations, telecommunications, power grids, banking and finance, transportation, water supply systems, gas and oil production, and storage.

Security expert, Fyodor Yarochkin, while speaking on ‘Organized cyber crime and international cyber terrorism’, said that there exists a huge market for sharing of data related to credit card information, land or other things. Yarochkin is a security analyst and software architect with Aramotize Technologies. The event was attended by over 50 security and IT experts, heads of critical infrastructure, and police and defense officials.