A history of major cyber attacks

A history of major cyber attacks: Experts say that concentrated cyber-attacks have the ability to cripple a nation’s ability to defend itself and destroy its economy and national wealth. Here is a list of some large recent cyber attacks:

2011 – Operation Shady RAT is an ongoing series of cyber attacks that began in mid-2006 and have been targeted at national governments, military contractors and organisations such as the United Nations.

December 2010 – The Pakistan Cyber Army hacked into the website of India’s Central Bureau of Investigation.
November 2010 – The Indian Cyber Army accessed websites operated by the Pakistan Army and several government ministries, including the foreign affairs, education and finance ministries.

November 2010 – The United States Department of Defence admits its internet traffic was rerouted through China for a period of 18 minutes in April. China denied the claim.

October 2010 – Iain Lobban, head of Britain’s Government Communications Headquarters, warns that the UK faces a “real and credible” threat of cyber attacks from hostile states and criminals and that government systems are targeted 1,000 times every month.

September 2010 – Iran’s Natanz nuclear facility is targeted by the Stuxnet worm, described as the most advanced piece of malware ever devised.

January 2010 – Google reports that attacks against its corporate infrastructure that led to the theft of intellectual property originated in China.

July 2009 – Coordinated denial-of-service attacks against government, media and financial web sites in the US and South Korea.