Russia Does Not Rule Out Use Of Information Technologies In Terrorism

Russia does not rule out the possibility of using information technologies in acts of terrorism. A reliable source at the Russian Foreign Ministry told journalists on Monday that "following the September 11 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington with the use of civil aviation and acts of biological terrorism, a possibility cannot be excluded that a new terrorist attack may be perpetrated with the use of computer technologies". According to the source, the modern computer web provides an opportunity for staging air catastrophes, "causing accidents at nuclear power plants, playing havoc with the banking system and so on". "No country today is ready to repel an information-technology aggression at the state level. Protection against hooligan hackers as a rule works, but if such steps are made at the state level, such a protection can be suppressed," stressed the source. In this connection, the source expressed satisfaction with the October 31 adoption by the UN first committee of the Russian draft resolution on achievements in the sphere of informatics and telecommunications in the context of international security. The Russian resolution contains principally important clauses on early setting up a group of government experts from UN member states for in-depth study of this matter.