What Is Next on Hackers’ Hit Lists

From Lockheed Martin to Citigroup and even the CIA,
the list of major organizations falling victim to hackers is growing at an alarming
rate, fueling worries that core U.S. infrastructure is the next big target.

“If you are
talking about hackers that work for foreign governments, then I think the focus
would continue with defense contractors as well as anything related to the U.S.
infrastructure,” said Jim Stickley of cyber security specialist
TraceSecurity. “That could include the power grids as well as oil refinery
companies and phone systems.”

Underlining the importance of this issue, the
National Security Agency has reportedly started a project called “Perfect
Citizen,” which aims to monitor key infrastructure such as power grids and
nuclear reactors for potential cyber attacks. The NSA has not yet responded to TheStreet’s request for comment on this story.

Attacks that
temporarily knock out an organization’s Web site, such as the ones which
recently targeted the CIA and the IMF, are also likely to proliferate,
according to John D’Arcy, an
assistant professor at the University of Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of
Business.

“The next likely
target will be a high-profile government Web site or system, or else one of the
larger U.S. companies’ sites such as Google,” he explained. “These
hacking groups are really trying to make a splash by going after high-profile
targets (such as the IMF site) and I expect that trend to continue.”

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