Cyber attack could be as devastating as 9/11, Obama administration warns

The internet is a "new terrain for warfare", US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told a group of business executives in New York on 11 October.

While most cyber security efforts in the private sector are focused on "criminals who prowl the internet and steal people's identities, sensitive business information, or even national security secrets", the threat is potentially much greater, warned Panetta.

"A cyber attack perpetrated by nation states or violent extremist groups could be as destructive as the terrorist attack of 9/11," he said. "Such a destructive cyber terrorist attack could paralyse the nation."

Panetta detailed three recent cyber attacks that marked an "escalation" of the threat.

The first of these were the so-called 'Distributed Denial of Service' attacks perpetrated against some large US financial institutions. "These attacks delayed or disrupted services on customer web sites," he said. "While this kind of tactic isn't new, the scale and speed was unprecedented."

Even more alarming, according to Panetta, was an attack that occurred two months ago, when a virus called 'Shamoon' infected computers at the Saudi Arabian oil company ARAMCO. The 30,000 computers it infected were rendered useless and had to be replaced.