Cyber crime and techno-terrorism are major threats to security, a top official of American intelligence agency -- the CIA -- warned yesterday.

And CIA general counsel Robert McNamara warned that the world was "staking its future on a resource which we have not yet learnt to protect''.

"Information warfare.. is creating a new vulnerability and it's not just a battlefield concern,'' he added.

Mr. McNamara said terrorists, nation states and international criminals hostile to the interests of the US -- and, by extension, the interests of its allies -- were aware of the electronic havoc which they could wreak.

He added: "We know that several have, or are developing, the ability to attack their enemies' computers.'' Mr. McNamara said pro-Serb computer users had bombarded NATO computers with e-mails at the outbreak of hostilities.

He added the e-mails did not pose a security threat -- but had nuisance value as it slowed down computer systems.

Mr. McNamara was speaking at a meeting of the American Bar Association's international law and practice section at The Princess Hotel yesterday.

And his views -- particularly as Bermuda is set on staking a claim in the lucrative e-commerce market as a "third pillar'' of the economy alongside international business and tourism -- could serve as a warning to the Island as well.

Former Bermuda Bar Association chief Narinder Hargun was in the audience for Mr. McNamara's speech.

He said afterwards: "These are some of the things we have to take account of and I'm assuming these are some of the things Government will look at.

"It's quite an uncharted territory because we have to deal with difficult questions -- like in which jurisdiction is a contract made and other legal consequences of technology.'' Mr. McNamara said governments alone could not prevent attacks on commercial or state computer systems -- especially as the telecommunications networks of the world were largely run by private concerns.

He added: "The private sector must work with governments to protect its information in an increasingly borderless world.'' And he said: "The world will become more challenging, more complex, more uncertain, not less, in the years to come.'' Mr. McNamara added that the speed at which technology was changing and the resulting explosion of information is colliding with countries' ability to deal with change and conflict.

He explained during the Cold War era with the now-collapsed Soviet Union, the CIA's focus had been on nation states -- which were relatively easy to keep tabs on.

But he said now the main focus had shifted to international terrorism, global traffickers in narcotics who operated from less-easily identified bases.

Mr. McNamara warned: "Terrorists and narcotics traffickers blend into the scenery.'' Robert McNamara