Comment Articles

Cyberterrorism - the new Cold War

David Coursey AnchorDesk

Published: 22 Feb 2002 10:37 GMT

During the next few years, heightened security will change the Internet, and the office network on which many of you work. In fact, you'll probably see changes first at the office as companies try to "harden" their information assets against a wide variety of threats.

Some of these efforts will be successful, some will be laughable, and most will tick you off. Many of you will come to see security as getting in the way of convenience. Since many companies will be tightening security on a learn-as-you-go basis, you and your colleagues will often have a point.

Here are some things you need to be thinking about as the great network lockdown of 2002 gets into full swing.

Most companies don't spend as much money on protecting their data as they do on coffee for employees. That's according to Richard Clarke, the White House special advisor on cybersecurity issues. He told an audience this week at the RSA Security Conference that less than 0.0025 percent of corporate revenue is spent on corporate information-technology protection.

It's not just the Internet and your company's data networks that aren't secure. Experts point out that most of the nation's critical infrastructure -- the power grid, voice networks, and water supplies -- are vulnerable. You'll find computers at the heart of all these systems, too. Terrorists have a wide range of technology targets, not all of them in cyberspace.