Expert plays down threat of cyberwar

New Scientist : A noted security researcher, Peter Sommer of the London School of Economics, says we should stop panicking about an impending cyberwar. Coauthor of a report for the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, titled Reducing Systemic Cybersecurity Risk , he says online attacks are unlikely ever to have global significance on the scale of a disease pandemic or a run on the banks. A few days earlier, a leading computer industry guru, James Martin, was quoted in the Independent as saying there is ample evidence that hostile foreign agents have already targeted the American electrical grid, and that the effects from such an attack would be devastating and would wreak havoc on the economy. “Governments should take a calm, disciplined approach and evaluate the risks of each type of attack very carefully rather than be swayed by scare stories,” says Sommer.