The discovery of Operation Shady RAT has reignited fears of large-scale cyber attacks that can pass under the radar. In light of this, Eric Mack of PCWorld has outlined the top cyber enemies that the United States and U.S.-based companies should look out for, starting with other nations.

Many observers suspect China was behind Shady RAT and possibly other prominent attacks, such as the Gmail hack earlier this year. Cyber attacks are an appealing alternative to dropping bombs or mobilizing soldiers because it's cheaper and it's difficult to prove culpability.

Mack considers Iran to be the other main U.S. cyber enemy. Some believe the United States or Israel created the Stuxnet worm to target Iran's nuclear facilities, and it's possible Iranian hackers have sought revenge, says Mack.

On the other end of the spectrum are more grassroots hacker groups like Anonymous and LulzSec--though McAfee calls them "just [a] nuisance" relative to state actors. Still, Anonymous has shown a knack for infiltrating major corporations and exposing private information. Jihadists and other extremists have also threatened cyber attacks as a means of terrorizing their targets.

Rounding out Mack's top five is the "unknown," hackers that don't openly associate with an organization or take credit for their campaigns. For example, it's still unclear who executed the recent Sony PlayStation attack.

For more:
- check out this article at PCWorld

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