Last May, for example, the US Department of Energy website, among others, was hacked in retaliation for NATO's accidental bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade. And Michael Vatis, assistant director of the FBI and head of its National Infrastructure Protection Center, reports that cyber crimes have doubled each year for the past couple of years, with more than 800 cases now pending. If the British example is anything to go by, this could be the tip of the iceberg. Hardly any of the attacks made on the City of London in June were reported to the police, says a spokeswoman for Britain's National Criminal Intelligence Service, because most companies are reluctant to publicise the flaws in their security. What's more, in this type of warfare, Western countries may turn out to be the most vulnerable, because of their high dependence on computers and electronic technology.
Viruses pose a particular threat.
According to Paul Ducklin, a virus expert with British software company Sophos, any virus that is effective against your enemy is almost certain to be effective against your own computers, too. For instance, Horta's hackers told him they had more than a dozen viruses designed to infect only Indonesian targets. Meanwhile, Horta continues to hold a virtual gun to the head of the Indonesian government. He says he feels morally justified. I find it a far more moral way of fighting than using the NATO tactic of bombing a country back into the Stone Age.