Cyber attacks could badly affect consumer confidence in government

According to a recent report the confidence of consumers in the government could be badly dented in the event of cyber attacks because online public services have made so many people reliant on broadband internet.

More and more public services have become available via the Internet, and according to a recent report there is growing reliance on broadband internet for the delivery of public services to consumers and businesses. However, one group has warned that this growing reliance by the government to deliver so many services online means that situations such as cyber attacks could result in public confidence in the government being badly dented.

The warning was issued to Whitehall by the Cyber Security Operations Centre. A document that was prepared for the Cabinet included this prediction over the effect that cyber attacks could have on the confidence of consumers when it came to the government.

The government has been using the Internet more and more for the delivery of public services, and the CSOC said that this meant “any interruption of broadband access becomes intolerable and will have serious impacts on the economy and public well being.” The report added: “A successful cyber attack against public services would have a catastrophic impact on public confidence in the government, even if the actual damage caused by the attack were minimal.”

The group went as far as to say that the Internet would possibly become a new battleground for countries and stated, adding: “States are likely to increasingly see the cyber domain as an area in which to wage war… it is difficult to see international agreement on what acts are and are not acceptable in a cyber war being achieved within five years. Even if regulation of this kind was to emerge, it is likely that it would make little difference. The increasing sophistication of criminal cyber tools and the availability of fast, cheap broadband will mean that states are able to achieve their aims by hiring criminal botnets to carry out DDOS or other attacks on their enemies’ infrastructure.”

Source – The Register