DATE=2/23/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=U-S CYBERTERRORISM (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-259497
BYLINE=JON TKACH
DATELINE=WASHINGTON
INTERNET=YES
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:


INTRO:  U-S security experts say Russia and China 
could pose a serious threat to U-S computer networks 
in the near future.  During a congressional hearing, 
government and private industry experts told lawmakers 
the U-S government does not have enough trained 
technicians to ward off such attacks in cyberspace.  
V-O-A's Jon Tkach (pron: Kotch) reports from 
Washington.


TEXT:  Fred Cohen, a computer scientist at the 
government-funded Sandia National Laboratories, says 
computer attacks such as the high-profile incidents 
that brought down several popular internet web-sites 
earlier this month are just the tip of the iceberg.  
He warns there are many more serious threats lurking 
in cyberspace.

            /// COHEN ACT ///

      But, they don't come from hackers or crackers or 
      most of the other actors that the media 
      associates with cyber-attacks today.  The likely 
      effects of a serious attack would be long-term 
      disruption of supply chains like the power grid, 
      massive corruption of financial records or a 
      large-scale loss of confidence.

            /// END ACT ///

He says groups with more dangerous intents and greater 
resources are capable of using the Internet to 
threaten U-S security.

Dan Kuehl, of the government's National Defense 
University, says Russia and China could pose the 
greatest such threat.  He says Russian and Chinese 
experts are known to be looking to internet attacks as 
a viable military option.

            /// KUEHL ACT ///

      While we have not yet seen such attacks from a 
      nation-state, that is solely because  no  
      nation-state or non-state actor has seen 
      sufficient strategic advantage to be gained by 
      doing so, and this situation will not last 
      indefinitely.  The time to prepare against such 
      an attack is now.

            /// END ACT ///

But, Mr. Kuehl and other experts testifying before 
Congress Wednesday warned that the government does not 
presently have the technical personnel to secure the 
nation's computer systems.  They say qualified 
technicians are passing up government jobs to make 
more money in the booming private hi-tech industry.

NEB/JON/JP




23-Feb-2000 16:08 PM EDT (23-Feb-2000 2108 UTC)
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Source: Voice of America
.