[ISN] FBI Suspects Terrorists Are Exploring Cyber Attacks

From: InfoSec News <alerts_at_private>
Date: Thu, 19 Nov 2009 02:20:40 -0600 (CST)
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125850773065753011.html

By Siobhan Gorman
Wall Street Journal
November 19, 2009

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is looking at people with suspected 
links to al Qaeda who have shown an interest in mounting an attack on 
computer systems that control critical U.S. infrastructure, a senior 
official told Congress Tuesday.

While there is no evidence that terrorist groups have developed 
sophisticated cyber-attack capabilities, a lack of security protections 
in U.S. computer software increases the likelihood that terrorists could 
execute attacks in the future, the official warned.

If terrorists were to amass such capabilities, they would be wielded 
with "destructive and deadly intent," Steven Chabinsky, deputy assistant 
director of the FBI's Cyber Division, told the Senate Judiciary 
Committee Tuesday.

"The FBI is aware of and investigating individuals who are affiliated 
with or sympathetic to al Qaeda who have recognized and discussed the 
vulnerabilities of the U.S. infrastructure to cyber-attack," Mr. 
Chabinsky told the committee, without providing details.

Such infrastructure could include power grids and transportation 
systems.

[...]


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Received on Thu Nov 19 2009 - 00:20:40 PST

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