Terrorists may launch cyber attack

Review of terrorism patterns have revealed that commercial computer, IT and telecommunications networks are increasingly likely to become a direct or indirect target, a panel of experts has warned.

Nick Robson, a partner at JLT Risk Solutions and an expert in terrorism and political risk said: “If we look at the history of terrorist activity it is reasonable that it is only a matter of time before attention is refocused on economic targets.

"It is accordingly reasonable to expect that there is a growing threat to business, though many corporations and institutions do not seem to have identified the nature of this threat and where it will come from.”

Speaking to a business audience at JLT's Global Communications & Technology Forum in Lugano he said that previous trends in terrorism indicated that it was only a matter of time before terrorists utilised cyber vulnerabilities to support or indeed execute attacks. Such action could have significant consequences for the communications sector, he said.

He added: “The consequences of a cyber attack to say the power industry would cause communications operations to close down for a period of time, expose customers to loss of service, increase liability exposure and ultimately damage reputation for service delivery. Companies need to identify their risk and where possible manage it. Apart from security management, it is important for businesses not to consider themselves only to be the victims or subjects of terrorism, but to contemplate whether they have a relationship with the risk that allows them to perhaps exert some further management over it. Whilst this may seem like an extraordinary statement, in emerging markets this is of particular importance given the impact a business can have on prospective terrorist activists, who may be drawn from disenfranchised local groups etc, who may in turn have been impacted by commercial business investment.”