The United States’ War on Cyber Terrorism

Earlier today, I asked if the internet was America’s new front for the War on Terror. 

The United States Air Force is predicting 200 million cyber attacks per year by 2015. Cyber defense is taking priority in the Air Force as it tries to fend off attacks while becoming more reliant on automation.

A recent Air Force report entitled “Global Horizons” says new cases of malware have increased more than tenfold, from 9 million in 2007 to more than 100 million in 2012. More than 200,000 new malicious programs are registered daily. The report reflects the Air Force’s Cyber Vision 2025 which recommends the Air Force invest heavily in a cyber warrior workforce.

Computing now pervades everything the U.S. military does.

The American government is taking threats of cyber terrorism seriously, because a possible cyberwar could see anonymous foreign computer hackers penetrating government networks to create political and economic instability, friction between the U.S. and its allies, and destroy infrastructure such as the U.S. oil and gas industry.

Government officials are worried that a coordinated cyberattack on critical infrastructure could shut down key government services and create chaos across the public and private sectors.

What do you think? Is the threat of cyber terrorism as dangerous as some make it out to be?