Different attack methods target different vulnerabilities and involve different types of weapons, and several may be within the current capabilities of some terrorist groups.
Three different methods of attack have been identified, based on the effects of the weapons used. However, as technology evolves, distinctions between these methods may begin to blur.
- A physical attack involves conventional weapons directed against a computer facility or its transmission lines;
- An electronic attack (EA) involves the use the power of electromagnetic energy as a weapon, more commonly as an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) to overload computer circuitry, but also in a less violent form, to insert a stream of malicious code directly into an enemy's microwave radio transmission; and
- A computer network attack (CNA), usually involves malicious code used as a weapon to infect enemy computers to exploit a weakness in software, in the system configuration, or in the computer security practices of an organization or computer user. Other forms of CNA are enabled when an attacker uses stolen information to enter restricted computer systems.
Department of Defense officials have stated that while CNA and EA threats are “less likely” than physical attacks, they could actually prove more damaging because they involve disruptive technologies that might generate unpredictable consequences or give an adversary unexpected advantages.
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