The Saudi electronic terrorist attack we experienced this week is a warning sign and harbinger of things we can come to expect. The attack did us a great service by opening our eyes and alerting all of us to the dangers posed by the Internet. Meanwhile, the attack clarified the new risk everyone is talking about cyberterrorism. The motivation for hackers across the globe and the support they receive from official agencies in their countries point to a new and developing threat in the virtual world. The exposure of our personal information this week - including names, email addresses and of course thousands of Israelis' credit card details - caused relatively minor damage that the credit card companies know how to cope with, and they can refund the victims. In the future, however, motivations and capabilities may be turned toward [Israel's] critical national infrastructure, causing considerably greater harm and damage than what we experienced this week. I do not want to think of a situation where hackers impede the population's water or electricity supplies and succeed in damaging infrastructure, disrupting normal life in the country. Organizations in Israel are cognizant of these dangers, which is why in recent years we have seen increasing awareness regarding the development of state of the art cyber defense systems. But these organizations do not always have the ability to cope with the large number and complex nature of these threats. Therefore, the threat must be addressed at the national level. We were recently informed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the creation of a new organization that will coordinate efforts to confront the cyberterrorism phenomenon. I am entirely hopeful that the warning bell rung this week strengthens decision makers resolve to support, invest in and advance this new, promised organization. We must realize that the virtual world is a part of our daily lives, and just as the defense establishment is entrusted with ensuring our safety on a daily and hourly basis, so must the state ensure our virtual safety. I remind citizens who make on-line transactions - specifically those that require submitting credit card information - to use known and trusted web sites which publish their security credentials and uphold proper standards. The writer is an Israeli data protection expert.
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