http://news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,2238250%255E2,00.html From AAP 01 July 2001 THE next big threat to Australia's national security could be from mousepads, not missiles, defence chief Admiral Chris Barrie said. Admiral Barrie said more than 30 countries had advanced and aggressive programs for waging cyberwar, and Australia was among the most vulnerable targets. "Many countries have programs to develop such technologies," he said yesterday. "These various tools could be fully integrated into a suite of comprehensive attack options over the next decade and beyond. "It's estimated right now over 30 countries have developed aggressive computer warfare programs." Computer strikes could cripple national infrastructure as well as defence equipment, Admiral Barrie said, and could jeopardise physical military operations. "It's a very cheap and effective way to attack successfully valuable defence and non-defence assets," he said. "Cyberattacks will provide both state and non-state adversaries with new options against countries beyond mere words but short of actual physical attack. "In addition to national infrastructure adversaries will seek to attack military capabilities through electronic warfare." But Admiral Barrie said the proliferation of high-tech physical weapons was also a major threat. Speaking at a US-Australia conference on Asia-Pacific security, he said there was a worrying amount of weapons and military equipment being sold in the region without any regard to politics or ideology. "Some manufacturing countries are selling weapons to customers in the Asia Pacific before these weapons are operational in their own armed forces," he said. "The common thread in the sale of high technology weapons is that sales are no longer determined by how a country lines up with the great powers ... but rather whether the recipient country has the funds to pay for them. "It's truly a buyer's market." ISN is hosted by SecurityFocus.com --- To unsubscribe email isn-unsubscribeat_private
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