The security measures were taken to thwart any mayhem by anti-globalization demonstrators, who had threatened for months to disrupt what they call an elitist conspiracy designed to promote the interests of big business to the detriment of the world s poor. During January 2001, computer hackers obliterated the website of the Egyptian central bank. In the Asian continent more than 40 Indian sites have been infiltrated during last year by hackers like G Force Pakistan and Doctor Nuker, who have left poignant pro-Pakistan slogans and reasons why Kashmir belongs to that country. Incidents that were once locally confined now can have international repercussions, and cross both public and private lines. Despite the prevalence of these amateur hacker attacks, it is clear that there is the possibility of a full-scale cyberwar between national governments.
Actual cyberwar is difficult to carry out on a large scale.
However, information warfare strategies are becoming increasingly embedded in national defense plans and intelligence operations, not only in the US, but also in countries like the UK, France, Israel, China, and Russia. Although many experts believe that the threat from nation states is currently overstated, the potential for sophisticated cyberwar tactics is likely to evolve rapidly. Experts who believe that the risk is overstated tend to be thinking in terms of traditional threat assessment models, which look for big footprints and may not be appropriate to the much more subtle and obscure cyber threats. In addition, intelligence gathering on information attacks poses strong challenges legally and operationally. Although no serious nation-based attacks have been detected to date, it is important to note that many documented attacks have had national organizations behind them, or have supported nationalist motives.