Any attempt to disrupt a computer system can be described as an act of terrorism, according to a report from the UK government’s terrorism watchdog published today.

The report, by Lord Carlile of Berriew Q.C. in his capacity as independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, lists any activity that “is designed seriously to interfere with or seriously to disrupt an electronic system” among its definitions of terrorist acts.

This definition could include any hacking or denial of service attack. This may have been prompted by reports from the US of cyber-attacks on critical national infrastructure.

Further reading

Cyber hijack comes of age

Terrorism - IT's reponse Events in recent years have forced organisations to take the impact of a terrorist attack seriously.

Cyber assault The threat to the UK’s critical IT infrastructure from cyber terrorists and activists is growing.

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