Enemy hackers?

Never mind missiles, never mind Iran’s nukes, there’s
an even spookier threat out there: Cybermissiles launched
by enemy hackers aimed at banks.

And according to testimony in Congress today, the
latest threat is apparently from Iran, which blames us for
the
computer virus that targeted its nuclear program.

And I know it’s hard to grasp what such an attack on a
bank might do, but a couple of months ago, there was a
forum on C-SPAN, mostly boring, but toward the end the
former director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell
described what would happen if some enemy managed to hack
a big New York bank:

“The two banks in New York that clear money, clear
somewhere to $7 trillion to $8 trillion a day, and our
economy is $14 trillion in a year. What backs up those
transactions in New York City? Nothing. There’s no gold.
There’s no printed money. What happens when someone
contaminates that database? What happens is banking will
freeze and global commerce will stop, devastating
consequences for the country.”

The cameras didn’t pan the audience, but I think he
scared their pants off. Especially this part:

“What backs up those transactions in New York City?
Nothing.”

And he says the hackers wouldn’t have to corrupt a lot
of data to create a panic:

“You have a banking crisis as soon as people realize my
money may be at risk, I must get it.”

And I know it may sound paranoid, but I’ll admit this
is why I keep all my bank receipts. We all know money is
a convenient fiction, but now it’s a convenient fiction
maintained by computers, which means that if those
computers go down then what you have would be — what’s
the word?

“Nothing.”