It is unrealistic to expect that any defence department can provide 'counter-attack-forces' against digital attacks for an entire nation's economic targets immediately and, in any case, the expertise needed is relatively fast moving and cannot be 'trained' into would be combatants in a short period of time.

...."After four successive record breaking months in the number of overt digital attacks this year, mi2g believes that we have entered an era of sustained attacks from radicals, criminals and intellectual power zealots, who will be difficult to contain and to deal with at the consumer and small to medium size corporate level in the 21st Century. The roll out of 'always on' full broadband and wireless connectivity tilts the balance against the innocent citizens and corporations. In the years to come, government intervention to deal with 5th dimension warfare could become imperative. It is no longer a question of if but when," said DK Matai, Chairman and CEO, mi2g.

"It is unlikely that governments will choose to remain oblivious to the challenge of daily digital attacks on their citizens and their livelihoods given the Billions of Dollars of damage being caused to digital commerce, productivity, intellectual property and employed capital. Organized crime syndicates embarking on identity theft, elaborate scams and financial fraud have now become rampant. As knowledge management based authentication systems proliferate both at airports and digital commerce sites, digital identity theft levers are going to be exercised by future criminals."

....Over the last six years, the worldwide economic damage estimate for all forms of digital attack has been estimated via EVEDA at between: $35 and $43 Billion (2002 so far); $35 and $43 Billion (2001); $22 and $27 Billion (2000); $18 and $22 Billion (1999); $3.6 and $4.4 Billion (1998); $2.9 and $3.7 Billion (1997); $800 and $970 Million (1996). This follows from a corollary of Murphy's Law: if it can be messed with, it will be messed with.