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DATE=2/23/2000 TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT TITLE=U-S CYBERTERRORISM (L-ONLY) NUMBER=2-259497 BYLINE=JON TKACH DATELINE=WASHINGTON INTERNET=YES CONTENT= VOICED AT: INTRO: U-S security experts say Russia and China could pose a serious threat to U-S computer networks in the near future. During a congressional hearing, government and private industry experts told lawmakers the U-S government does not have enough trained technicians to ward off such attacks in cyberspace. V-O-A's Jon Tkach (pron: Kotch) reports from Washington. TEXT: Fred Cohen, a computer scientist at the government-funded Sandia National Laboratories, says computer attacks such as the high-profile incidents that brought down several popular internet web-sites earlier this month are just the tip of the iceberg. He warns there are many more serious threats lurking in cyberspace. /// COHEN ACT /// But, they don't come from hackers or crackers or most of the other actors that the media associates with cyber-attacks today. The likely effects of a serious attack would be long-term disruption of supply chains like the power grid, massive corruption of financial records or a large-scale loss of confidence. /// END ACT /// He says groups with more dangerous intents and greater resources are capable of using the Internet to threaten U-S security. Dan Kuehl, of the government's National Defense University, says Russia and China could pose the greatest such threat. He says Russian and Chinese experts are known to be looking to internet attacks as a viable military option. /// KUEHL ACT /// While we have not yet seen such attacks from a nation-state, that is solely because no nation-state or non-state actor has seen sufficient strategic advantage to be gained by doing so, and this situation will not last indefinitely. The time to prepare against such an attack is now. /// END ACT /// But, Mr. Kuehl and other experts testifying before Congress Wednesday warned that the government does not presently have the technical personnel to secure the nation's computer systems. They say qualified technicians are passing up government jobs to make more money in the booming private hi-tech industry. NEB/JON/JP 23-Feb-2000 16:08 PM EDT (23-Feb-2000 2108 UTC) NNNN Source: Voice of America .