McAfee’s Virtual Criminology Report Warns of Global Cyber Warfare

McAfee, a Web security giant, released the grave results from its fifth yearly Virtual Criminology Report on November 17, 2009.

According to Dave DeWalt, CEO and president of McAfee, more than two years ago, the firm began warning people of the global cyberarms race, but it is noticing increasing evidence of the warning turning into reality, as per the statement published by mcafee.com on November 17, 2009. Further, several countries across the world are busy preparing themselves for cyber wars.

The report also found that for countries, nuclear weapons continue to be the matter of greater concern than malware, but still computer viruses and logic bombs can't be overlooked.

Politically-motivated cyber assaults have surged in the US, France, Russia, Israel and China, according to findings of the latest McAfee's report. Furthermore, the report also tries to describe cyber warfare, present illustrations of politically-motivated assaults and reveal how this crossfire among different nations will affect the private sector.

McAfee official stated that disclosure is one of the biggest challenges for the businesses worldwide. As most of the malicious assaults and their perpetrators are classified by the government, it is extremely difficult for businesses to defend their own data and networks from such attacks.

McAfee added that nation-states are aggressively enhancing their cyber warfare capabilities. They are also a part of the cyber arms race, targeting crucial infrastructures and government networks. Further, cyber warfare will lead to devastating results as it may cause physical damage and death. McAfee stated that it's not a mere war between computers; it may cause really heavy destruction.

In the Virtual Criminology Report, a former Deputy Director of the US National Security Agency, William Crowell said that cyber assaults will progressively become a war component over the next two-three decades, as reported by mcafee.com on November 17, 2009. Crowell added that it, however, can't be predicted whether or not the networks will be so defenseless and pervasive that cyber war activities will operate independently.

Finally, this alarming call by McAfee was substantiated by the Anti-Phishing Working Group's latest data security report. The report claimed that the escalating online scams and malware attacks have made Internet a considerably dangerous platform.

Related article: McAfee Alerts Windows about Accessibility Hole in Vista

» SPAMfighter News - 26-11-2009

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