Attacks almost impossible to establishBritain's critical infrastructure faces a real and credible threat from cyber attack, said the Guardian in an editorial published Thursday. Excerpts: There are 1,000 emails a month trying to penetrate or disable government computer networks. Losses from online banking fraud reached £39m in the first half of 2009. As each government conducts more of its business online, the bar for entry to the espionage game is being lowered. Cyberspace is not no man's land. It is a battlefield contested every day, hour, minute and second. On Monday the government will publish the “strategic context” of its defense review, and it is likely that cyber warfare will feature prominently in it. However, before we get carried away with ghoulish phrases such as cyberwar arms race or cybergeddon, it is worth taking a cool look at the nature of this threat. First, if there is a war going on out there in cyberspace, it is one in which western government agencies take an active part. That leads to the second point, that this is a war in which authorship is contested. Unlike a missile flying through the air, or even polonium-210, the evidential trail of a cyber attack is difficult, if not impossible, to establish. Some use botnets, a collection of compromised computers running programs that allow them to be controlled remotely. This will create two contradictory dynamics. It will be in each country's interest – not least those, such as Britain, with a growing information economy – to tighten up liaison between private companies, internet service providers and the government. __
