Re:Are critical systems on the internet? (Score 3, Insightful)

Keep in mind that a cyberterror attack does not have do be something that is big and splashly to be effective.

Terrorists are political animals first and foremost. They attempt to disrupt the exisiting political order in order to substutite their own.

This means that they don't really have do something major in terms of deaths or physical destruction. All terrs have to do is disrupt. All they have to do is create enough chaos to force society to give in.

How about the economic impact of shutting down the stock exchanges for few hours? Perhaps only a few Wall Streeters would really suffer. But think of the panic.

Consider the effect of transportation and deliveries. The restock time for grocery stores in most cities is 3 days. Keep the trucks, trains and airplanes from coming in and in three days you have food riots.

Also, we need to consider how most people react. We here at Slashdot are problem-solvers. To us, figuring out complex and difficult problems is routine. Can you say that for the general public?