In an unprecedented move, a high-ranking British security official confirmed the extent of the cyber-threat currently overhanging British computer networks which control essential public service areas – online banking prominent among them.

In an interview with the Times newspaper, Britain’s Security Minister revealed that thousands of daily attacks target those networks which rely heavily on computer systems and the Internet. The perpetrators range from various state-sponsored ‘cyber-espionage’ agents employed by rival foreign superpowers to terrorist-backed hackers trying to access Britain’s essential infrastructure – the country’s financial systems or those systems which control nuclear power distribution. As a result, the Security Minister has referred to the current wave of cyber-attacks against Britain as computer-based “warfare”.

Meanwhile, security experts warn that it’s the very connection to the Internet which makes banking systems and other vital parts of the British computerised systems infrastructure vulnerable to attacks, particularly since, some analysts claim many companies still underestimate the security threat and are overconfident in the defence capabilities of their own networks.