The next large-scale military or terrorist attack on the United States,
if and when it happens, may not involve airplanes or bombs or even
intruders breaching American borders.

Instead, such an assault may be carried out in cyberspace by shadowy
hackers half a world a way. And Internet security experts believe that
it could be just as devastating to the U.S.'s economy and infrastructure
as a deadly bombing.

Experts say last week's attack on the former Soviet republic of Georgia,
in which a Russian military offensive was preceded by an Internet
assault that overwhelmed Georgian government Web sites, signals a
new kind of cyberwar, one for which the United States is not fully prepared.

"The U.S. is probably more Internet-dependent than any place
in the world. So to that extent, we're more vulnerable than any
place in the world to this kind of attack," Burling added.
"So much of what we're doing [in the United States] is out there
on the Internet, and all of that can be taken down at once."

source CNN