Cyber attack on the US will be as dreadful as ‘9/11’, warn cyber security experts

Paris – ‘The next attack that can be as dreadful as the ‘9/11’ or the ‘Pearl Harbour’ attacks will be a cyber-attack. This attack could be like something never seen before and an independent term will have to be coined for it,’ warned Tarah Wheeler, an expert in the field of cybersecurity. At the same time, Wheeler warned that the cyber attackers are multiplying their targets by the day and the systems to counter them are not sufficiently developed.

The annual meeting of the ‘Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’ (OECD) is currently in progress in the French capital of Paris. Wheeler underlined the cyber threats while speaking at this meeting. Wheeler warned that the next cyber attack will be very big compared to the previous attacks and it will gain a global identity just like the ‘9/11’ and the ‘Pearl Harbour’. Wheeler further said that in recent times most of the US agencies are connected to the cyber field and this will increase the intensity of the cyberattacks.

Meanwhile, other experts in this field have also endorsed the warning given by Wheeler. Former US Admiral James Stavridis claimed that the next cyber-attack will have intensity comparable to the ‘Pearl Harbour’ attack. Stavridis has warned that this attack can be on the US power supply systems or on the financial sector. Stavridis further said that we need to be prepared for this cyber attack in the same way as we prepare for an outbreak of a dangerous epidemic.

Other experts in the cyber field have also expressed concern about the possibility of crippling cyber attacks. The experts also seemed to agree upon the fact that the United States still depended on obsolete measures for its cybersecurity. The United States agencies have been informing about formidable cyberattacks on the United States in the past two years. The Trump administration had accused Russia for the cyberattack on the United States power grid. The ‘Wannacry’ virus infected more than 300,000 computers in 150 countries. It is claimed that this resulted in a loss of about 300 million dollars to the multinational companies. Russia was accused of having a hand in this attack too.

Against this background, the warning that the next cyber-attack on the US will be comparable to ‘9/11’ is being taken very seriously. Experts fear that the losses to the United States, because of these attacks, will be terrible. The United States has already announced its policy which states that a cyber-attack will be considered an attack on the United States as a nation, and the freedom to retaliate against it in any form will rest with the US. Thus, if a specific country is identified to be responsible for the cyber attack against the United States, it may even have to face military action from the United States.

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