Is there such a thing as cyber terror?

Computer security gurus have long been saying that cyber terror is just so much hype.

"If (terrorists) want to attack they will do it with bombs like they always have," said security guru Bruce Schneier.

Schneier added, "Breaking pager networks and stopping e-mail is not an act of terror."

J Pescatore says: I hope by now all the blow-hards hyping up cyber-terrorism as what we should really worry about have seen that blood and missing limbs and death are what cause terror, not error 404s.

I agree that we can't be scaring people with silly theories and wild spending - it does more harm than good. But this recent article reveals that al Qaeda may be taking this more seriously than our gurus:

A government-prepared dossier says that al Qaeda is targeting middle-class Britons to join its ranks

...likely targets come in two categories: "well-educated undergraduates with degrees or professional qualifications in engineering or IT (information technology); or underachievers with few or no qualifications and often a criminal background."

If al Qaeda can't perform terror with IT talent then perhaps they have gotten into a different line of business? Using IT to hack systems and steal money to fund terrorism isn't exactly cyber terror. And what about disrupting financial, commercial, energy and transportation sectors? Is that cyber terror? Does blood have to be spilled to be considered terrorism? Would wrecking an economy or creating dissension between nations qualify?

My take - let's not get too wrapped up in semantics and make sure we see the greater context and threats and see what we might be able to do to prevent potential tragedies.