The US press and wire services report that the US Government has warned that US online stock trading and banking Web sites are the potential target of an al-Qaeda attack. The warning is reported to have originated from a Jihadist site.
A Homeland Security spokesperson is reported as saying: "There is no information to corroborate this … threat”. Reuters report that: “A person familiar with the warning said al Qaeda may be aiming to penetrate and destroy the databases of U.S. online stock trading and banking Web sites. But there was no evidence to suggest the effort could cause harm”.
Are we right to play down such warnings? They could well be false alarms. And our banks might well be adequately protected. There’s also a risk of crying wolf. But there’s also a danger of complacency. Personally I’d prefer to see a little more paranoia about the dangers of hostile cyber attacks.
Last year ZDNet accused me of being a “doomsayer” for a relatively mild prediction I made back in 1999 that the “Electronic Pearl Harbour” would not happen until around 2006. That particular prediction was based on an analysis of several Technology Road Mapping exercises, which indicated a cumulative build up threats, impacts and exposures that were expected to peak at around this time. Professor Fred Piper mentioned this in a speech earlier this year, posing the question: “Who is right?”
But regardless of what anyone thinks, it’s always better to be safe than sorry.