Recently in the USA the Govt posted a lengthy fictional scenario called "Cyber Attack War Game" see the last one http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfv5ASJxbA&feature=related Click on the last video No 9 as it very long.Now the conclusions from this panel is that the threat is real.They seem to imply that al Queda does not have the ability.They also conclude that the threat would probably be not from a country because of the retaliation factor.

Recently a friend of mine returned form the USA and she said that the people there are paranoid about Iran having a magnetic,pulse nuclear bomb which FEMA says could knock out all communications in the USA.These to me seem to be wild claims.

With Google threatening to pull out of China cyber wars seem on the agenda.Google takes the high moral ground and we all know that China get google to censor their internet but Google also to a much lesser degree does this on the behalf of the US Govt.

Now the threat has moved to home grown terrorism.Is it possible for one hacker or a number of them to disable the entire internet? Obama talks about weapons of mass disruption.Apparently Obama's own site was hacked into.

I see this as a move to internet censorship on a massive scale.We see a lot of high ranking public officials giving an opinion but not one internet expert.

The link above is faulty.see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDWEM2jM7qY&feature=related

Arjay
It is quite possible that we are more vulnerable to cyber terrorism via hacking of important sites particularly defence and economic. We are more and more dependent on information (and money) being stored, transacted and transferred on the Net.

I don't see this as resulting in greater internet censorship as hacking has been around for years, so has terrorism. Hacking has been a threat since the 60s although it started primarily with telecommunications.

The threat is real however, you only have to look at the rise in IT security companies who manage firewalls on behalf of government and private clients. Most government departments now employ IT security experts as well as the usual security advisers.

Whether or not Al Quaida's expertise can compete with preventative measures remains to be seen. Governments and other agencies now often use trusted information sharing networks that are separate from other networks (as I understand it).

Internet censorship won't stop hacking.

Yep- anyone with an ounce of understanding about computers and the internet (which excludes the majority of people in most countries of the world) would know that censoring makes zero impact on hackers as it is still the same system.
It would be like trying to stop a burglar by covering your windows with curtains saying "do not enter".

Anyway, a few points about the internet etc:
-Most sensitive computers are safe from hacking because they are not connected to the net at all (NASA learned that the hard way a few decades ago)
-It is simply impossible to destroy the internet with EMPs because the 'internet' is simply the name for every computer and every transmitter connected together- even if it did, it would just be a matter of fixing the wires and buying a new computer.
-An EMP nuclear device?!?! ALL nuclear weapons discharge an EMP- it's just that I'd be more worried about the extreme heat, gigaton explosive force and radiation.

That's probably a smart move, if you think about it.

>>We see a lot of high ranking public officials giving an opinion but not one internet expert.<<

If I had a bunch of "internet experts" advising me on how to counter the threats, I'd make sure they kept very quiet about it.

If you look at a few excerpts from these scenarios,it is all hype and alarm without any real factural evidence.They all agree that there needs to be new powers over the net to stop such attacks.

King Hazza you have observed that EMP has always been a by product of any Nuke explosion,why has FEMA over stated it's influence? One bomb would never achieve anywhere near this effect.Iran has yet to develop a single nuke bomb and has not the capacity to deliver while Israel has estimated no of 100 plus.

Pelican I agree that censorship won't stop hacking,but in the scenarios revealed here they want new powers over the WEB.What are they?

Pericles,you can have expert advice that is convincing without giving away any trade secrets.When was the last time you believed a polly or bureaucrat?

The internet did not take off until 1998 which gave people access to information not supplied by the pop media.The corp media has been reduced from 30 to just 4 in the West.This is not healthy.Due to the WEB people, are now questioning many things that the establishment feeds us and they don't like it.

Govts around the planet want control.Kevin Rudd currently wants to censor the WEB under the pretense of protecting us from paedophiles.

Do not take our present freedoms for granted.Our elected officials need their feet to be held to the flame of truth if we are are to keep this precious tool.