http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/12/cybersecurity-c.html 

By Kim Zetter 
Threat Level
Wired.com
December 10, 2008

Forget nuclear, chemical and biological weapons, the new weapon of mass 
destruction is computer malware and botnets, according to authors of a 
new report from the conservative Hoover Institution [1], who claim 
credit for coining the term "electronic Weapons of Mass Destruction" or 
eWMD.

Since, as the New York Times told us last week, malware is seriously on 
the rise and "spreading faster than ever," [2] this would make the 
proliferation of eWMD more horrific than any other WMD to date.

Which would seem to imply that eWMD stockpilers, such as the New Zealand 
"bot boy" [3] (aka Owen Thor Walker), are the cyber equivalent of Saddam 
Hussein.

"While one hopes ewmds will never be able to cause the loss of life that 
other weapons of mass destruction (nuclear, chemical, biological) can 
cause," the Hoover Institution authors write, "they should still be 
recognized as having the potential to destroy livelihoods or even entire 
economies. . . ."

Hm. Okay. Not the same thing.

[1] http://www.hoover.org/publications/policyreview/35543534.html 
[2] http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/06/technology/internet/06security.html 
[3] http://www.3news.co.nz/Video/Bot-Boy/tabid/371/articleID/82338/cat/46/Default.aspx?articleID=82338#video 

[...]


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