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The cyber attacks are one of the greatest threats to the security of the United States, outside of a nuclear war or weapons of mass destruction, and are increasingly difficult to prevent, experts warned Tuesday that the FBI.

Shawn Henry, assistant director of the division of the FBI, told a conference in New York that the attacks on computers pose "the most significant risk to national security, apart from a weapon of mass destruction or a bomb in one of our major cities. "


"Out of a nuclear device or other destructive weapons, the threat to our infrastructure, the threat to our intelligence services, the threat to our computer system is the most critical burden on us."

American experts evoke a "cybergeddon or cyber Revelation in which an advanced economy - where everything important is connected or controlled by computers - would be sabotaged by" hackers "(hackers).


Michael Balboni, deputy secretary for public safety of New York (northeast), described "a huge potential threat" against all the structures, from banking institutions to drinking water systems and hydroelectric dams.

Henry said that terrorist groups are working to create a virtual September 11 "would cause the same kind of damage to our country, everywhere, on all networks, as well as they did in 2001 estrellando aircraft against buildings."


An attack of this scale in line never happened so far in the United States but hacking - was once a sport for astute criminals - is evolving rapidly in the world into a weapon of war.

Russian hackers allegedly mounted attacks on the networks of Internet in Estonia and Georgia last year, and Palestinian supporters orchestrated attacks against hundreds of Israeli websites in recent days.


After years of combat against criminal groups operating in the Internet, the FBI and the security services of other countries know that "hackers" are the enemies of a more innovative and poachers.

"Before people literally chasing trasportaba pockets with cash," said Donald Codling, responsible for coordination between the FBI and the department of homeland security.


"Now the criminal can use your SIM card and move money around the world, and its partners can withdraw money at ATMs in the currency of their choice. For us it is extremely difficult to catch them."

Codling, like others involved in the fight against crime, said an upset admiration for the skill of highly motivated enemies that often lead them a step ahead.


Christopher Painter, a specialist from the FBI in charge of international coordination, described another fundamental weakness in the fight against cyber crime: the threat is often invisible and therefore not taken seriously.

"It's not like a fire," he says. "It is difficult to realize the magnitude of the threat. We often find that a company has been attacked, and they say it does not even know."