Such an attack could come without warning. Suddenly, computers and cell phones will cease to function, cash-dispensing and banking machine screens will stare blankly at customers, air traffic control, railroad and motor traffic systems will leave highways, bridges and waterways in chaos and perishable goods stranded far from hungry populations. With the loss of electricity, hospitals, houses, shopping centres, whole communities will tumble into darkness. Government authorities will be unable to take stock of the damage, communicate with the rest of the world to spread word of the crisis or protect their vulnerable citizenry from subsequent attacks. This is the intractable plight of a community paralysed by the instantaneous loss of digital networks. This is the potential devastation of a new kind of war, a “Cyberwar.”
Full pdf: http://www.itu.int/dms_pub/itu-s/opb/gen/S-GEN-WFS.01-1-2011-PDF-E.pdf