Internet kill switch may just make things worse

Posted by Trent Nouveau

An academic report commissioned by the OECD warns that a proposed US Internet "kill switch" is likely to compound the effects of any cyber attack or war. 

The report also predicts that any major (hostile) digital disruption across the US would be met with exaggerated language, an over-reliance on military concepts and confusion.

According to Dr. Ian Brown of Oxford University, the chances of a cybersecurity "event" causing a major global catastrophe remained relatively minimal.

Internet kill switch may just make things worse"We think that a largely military approach to cybersecurity is a mistake.   "Most targets in the critical national infrastructure of communications, energy, finance, food, government, health, transport, and water are in the private sector."

Brown also estimates that a separate event - such as a natural disaster - would be exacerbated by a wide-scale collapse of critical electronic infrastructure. 

The way Brown sees it, any potential cyberwar will likely be part of a military strategy employed by an army in the context of a conventional conflict fought primarily with conventional weapons.    

(Via TechWorld)