Adding to the horror of the suicide plane attacks on September 11 and the ongoing anthrax scare, analysts say the United States could be beset by cyber attacks that wreak havoc by crippling vital computer networks. The likelihood of cyber attacks against US and allied information infrastructures is high, Michael Vatis, the former director of the FBI`s cybercrime unit, testified in a recent congressional hearing.
Vatis, who heads the Institute For Security Technology Studies at new Hampshire`s Dartmouth University, said political clashes -- such as the India-Pakistan and Israeli-Palestinian conflicts -- are being played out in cyberspace.
Vatis said attacks on US networks could come from terrorists or their nation-state sponsors but are more likely to come from sympathisers of terrorists or of nation-states targeted by US-led military operations and from hackers with anti-US sentiments.

Until now, attacks by hackers and viruses unleashed over the Internet have caused economic damage at worst.
But some analysts and lawmakers fear a more insidious attempt by hackers to damage key communications or infrastructure networks, possibly in conjunction with a physical terrorist attack. Bureau Report