attacks on 11 September 2001, the US defence secretary has warned.
Leon Panetta said the country was preparing totake pre-emptive action
if a serious cyber-attack was imminent.
He said US intelligence showed "foreign actors" were targeting control
systems for utilities, industry and transport.
Advanced tools were being created to subvert key computer control
systems and wreak havoc, said Mr Panetta.
"An aggressor nation or extremist group could gain control of critical
switches and derail passenger trains, or trains loaded with lethal
chemicals," said Mr Panetta in a speech to business leaders held on
the USS Intrepid - a former aircraft carrier that is now a museum.
"They could contaminate the water supply in major cities, or shut down
the power grid across large parts of the country.
"Such a destructive cyber-terrorist attack could paralyse the
nationand create a profound new sense of vulnerability," he said.
Smaller scale cyber-attacks were now commonplace, said Mr Panetta.
Cyber-attacks could inflictas much damage as 9/11. warned the US
defense secretary
In recent weeks, many large US firms had suffered attacks that had
involved them being bombarded with huge amounts of data, he said. In
addition, oil companies in Qatar and Saudi Arabia had been hit by the
Shamoon attack, which had tried to replace computer datawith
gibberish. About 30,000 machines were hitby the Shamoon attack.
The US defence department had developed tools to trace attackers, he
added, and a cyber-strike force that could conduct operationsvia
computer networks. And it was now finalisingchanges to its rules of
engagement that would define when it could"confront major threats
quickly".
"Potential aggressors should be aware that the United States has the
capacity to locate them and hold them accountable for actions that
harm America or its interests," he said.
"If we detect an imminent threat of attackthat will cause
significantphysical destruction or kill American citizens, we need to
have the option to take action to defend the nation, when directed by
the president."
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