Cyber spies plan attacks next year

Cyber spying will pose the single biggest security threat in 2008, with 120 countries now using the internet for web espionage operations, according to security company McAfee.

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Jeff Green, senior vice president of McAfee Avert Labs and product development, said cyber crime is now a global issue which has evolved significantly and it is no longer just a threat to industry and individuals but increasingly to national security.

Green added emerging threats are being seen from increasingly sophisticated groups attacking organisations around the world.

Technology is only part of the solution, he added, and over the next five years we will start to see international governments take action.

Other major trends over the coming calendar year include an increasing threat to online services - such as banking - and the emergence of a complex and sophisticated malware market, according to the annual Virtual Criminology Report 2007.

Cyber assaults are now designed to specifically slip under the radar of government cyber defences, the report reveals, with attacks progressing from initial curiosity probes to well-funded and well-organised operations for political, military, economic and technical espionage.

National infrastructure network systems in particular - such as air traffic control, electricity, financial markets and government computer networks - will be targets for cyber attacks over the coming year, according to McAfee.

On a similar point, Beijing recently denied reports in Western media claiming Chinese hackers penetrated Pentagon systems.