Digital Threats Mark New Front in Nation's Security

from The Online News Hour

.... Al-Qaida and other terrorist groups have spoken of their desire to unleash a cyber-attack on our country, attacks that are harder to detect and harder to defend against. Indeed, in today's world, acts of terror could come not only from a few extremists in suicide vests, but from a few key strokes on the computer, a weapon of mass disruption.

JEFFREY BROWN: Just last April, The Wall Street Journal reported the U.S. electrical grid had been hacked. It said cyber-spies probed the power system and planted software to cause disruptions.

Another report said the Pentagon's Joint Strike Fighter program was struck, but officials insisted the breach was nothing serious.

Overall, the Defense Department reported 360 million attempts to penetrate its data networks last year, up from six million in 2006. And cyber-damage has cost $100 million over six months. Add to that rising threats to the private sector, including losses from identity theft and monetary scams, and the president said, it's clearly time for urgent action. ....