|
London: A "cyber cold war" waged over the world's computers threatens to become one of the biggest threats to security in the next decade, according to a report published on Thursday.
About 120 countries are developing ways to use the internet as a weapon to target financial markets, government computer systems and utilities, internet security company McAfee said in an annual report.
Intelligence agencies already routinely test other states' networks looking for weaknesses and their techniques are growing more sophisticated every year, it said.
Governments must urgently shore up their defences against industrial espionage and attacks on infrastructure.
Global issue
"Cybercrime is now a global issue," said Jeff Green, senior vice-president of McAfee Avert Labs. "It has evolved significantly and is no longer just a threat to industry and individuals but increasingly to national security."
The report said China is at the forefront of the cyber war. It said China has been blamed for attacks in the United States, India and Germany. China has repeatedly denied such claims.
"The Chinese were first to use cyber-attacks for political and military goals," James Mulvenon, director of the Centre for Intelligence and Research in Washington, said in the report.
The report was compiled with input from academics and officials from Britain's Serious Organised Crime Agency, the US Federal Bureau of Investigation and Nato.
Reading skills hit
The lure of computer games is being blamed for England's dramatic drop down a crucial international league table of children's reading skills.
In a blow to the credibility of the government's literacy drive, England plummeted from third to 19th in a table of 45 nations and provinces in terms of the performance of 10-year-olds in a reading test.
Schools secretary Ed Balls admitted yesterday that the drop - the third largest after Morocco and Romania - was being driven by a decline in the performance of England's brightest pupils.
- Evening Standard
|
