Report: Internet Will Face Big Attack

　　A devastating attack will hit the Internet or the country's electrical grid in the next decade, a majority of experts predicted in a new report.

　　Two out of three experts agreed that such an attack would occur, according to "The Future of the Internet," a report released this week by the Pew Internet & American Life Project, which researches the impact of the Internet. The 1,286 respondents were experts chosen by the pollsters and colleagues the experts referred. Results don't reflect the opinions of Americans as a whole.

　　While a majority predicted a devastating attack, several respondents and experts interviewed by Newsday suggested the word "devastating" - which the pollsters didn't define - was too strong a term.

　　Those interviewed by Newsday said the Internet would recover in hours or days from a software-based attack - far from devastation.

　　A physical attack on the Internet infrastructure - such as destroying fiber optic cables at hubs in numerous key cities - would be more harmful and long-lasting but unlikely because it would be so difficult to carry out, the experts said.