DARKMARK

could have resulted in an explosion. Its existence proves that the doomsday scenarios proposed by the so-called cyber warriors are no longer only theoretically possible. Serious though it was at the time, the attack on Estonia was the equivalent of a playful pre-match kick- about, compared to what Stuxnet heralds.

The cyber warriors are also referred to as cyber securocrats - these are the prophets who warn that the sky is about to fall on our heads. Among the most articulate of this breed is Richard Clarke, who describes the following scenario in his book Cyber War:

By the time you get to the Situation Room, the Director of the Defense Information Systems Agency is waiting on the secure phone for you.

FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, has reported large refinery fires and explosions in Philadelphia and Houston, as well as lethal clouds of chlorine gas being released from several chemical plants in New Jersey and Delaware.

The National Air Traffic Control Center in Herndon, Virginia, has experienced a total collapse of its systems . . .

Most securocrats continue by arguing that the only way we can prevent a digital Pearl Harbor or Cybergeddon is to put money into their think-tanks and companies in order to step up research into the threat.

In fact, this is already happening. The Estonian events accelerated the move towards the militarisation of cyberspace. NATO first agreed to create the majestically titled Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence in Tallinn in 2005. Despite an enthusiastic reception for the idea of a cyber-war operational institute, member states proved reluctant to put any money on the table (with the understandable exception of the host country, Estonia). The project wasn't mothballed, but it struggled to advance much beyond the stage of some attractively designed headed notepaper.

'As soon as the attack happened, however,' noted Peeter Lorents, an eminent Estonian mathematician and one of the Centre's co-founders, 'the atmosphere changed and we started getting real support from both Brussels and Washington. Indeed, my first reaction on hearing about the attack was to call France and order two cases of Cristal Champagne