13 January 2019

World War 3: Half US public fear MAJOR CYBER ATTACK while Russians BOAST 'we are ready'

By ABBIE LLEWELYN

Pipped only by Israel, Russia is the second most self-assured, with 63 percent believing they are prepared for a major cyber attack. Meanwhile, in the US only 53 percent believe they can hold their ground in a cyber war and in the UK just 46 believe the country is ready. The poll data, released yesterday, was taken from 27,612 respondents in 26 countries last summer.

With around half of Americans fearing a major cyber incident, Republicans are more confident in their nation’s readiness than Democrats - 61 percent to 47 percent.

Similarly, in most countries, supporters of the ruling party tended to have more faith in their country’s readiness than supporters of the opposition.


Electronic warfare has increasingly shaped defence policies around the world, with potential major hacking incidents hovering over the heads of governments.

NATO has designated cyberspace as a theatre of operations and has sought to boost its tools of electronic warfare over the past year.

Russians believe they are ready for cyber warfare (Image: GETTY)

Cyber warfare has the potential to cause chaos (Image: GETTY)

Havoc has been wrecked in countries around the world from hacking incidents of unknown origin, revealing holes in cyber systems holding highly sensitive information.

Just this week, hackers published private information related to German political parties and its leaders - except the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD).

According to the survey, those in South America had the least faith in their government’s readiness for cyber warfare - 37 percent of Mexicans believe their country is ready, 16 percent of Brazilians and just 9 percent of Argentines.

Meanwhile, 30 percent of Italians were confident in their preparations, 50 percent of South Koreans, 52 percent of Canadians, 56 percent of Kenyans and 64 percent of Indonesians and 73 percent of Isrealis.

Russia has denied claims of interfering in sovereign affairs of other nations (Image: GETTY)

Meanwhile, relations between Russia and the West are souring.

The US and Russia are embroiled in an ongoing row over accusations of Russian interference in the 2016 Presidential election.

The UK accused Russia of ordering the assassination of Sergei Skripal on home soil.

Other Western powers and Israel have fired accusations at Moscow being involved with attempts to incapacitate or influence events in their countries.

Russia has repeatedly denied these claims, saying they do not involve themselves in the domestic affairs of other countries.

New sanctions on Russia have been introduced, to which they responded in kind.

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