World is due 'a major cyber attack causing widespread harm' before 2025, say experts

The world is likely to suffer a major cyber attack causing “widespread harm to a nation’s security and capacity to defend itself” before 2025, The Independent reports, citing a survey of more than 1,600 experts carried out by the Pew Research Center.

Sixty-one per cent of respondents - which included policymakers, researchers, analysts and engineers – said that they thought a major attack was likely while 39 per cent said “no”.

Those that thought an attack was likely said that internet-connected systems had become too invited, with critical infrastructure such as energy or finance tied into what is a very vulnerable system.

“Current threats include economic transactions, power grid, and air traffic control,” said Mark Nall, a program manager for Nasa. “This will expand to include others such as self-driving cars, unmanned aerial vehicles, and building infrastructure.”

Some experts also thought it was fair to say that “major” cyber attacks had already happened, citing examples such as the Stuxnet worm which is widely thought to have been engineered as a joint US and Israeli program and that set back Iran’s nuclear program by years.
 

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