Attacks on computer systems now have the potential to cause global catastrophe, but only in combination with another disaster, Reuters reported after the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) released a study today.

The study, part of a wider OECD project examining possible “future global shocks” such as a failure of the world’s financial system or a large-scale pandemic, said there were very few single “cyber events” that could cause a global shock.

Examples were a successful attack on one of the technical protocols on which the Internet depends, or a large solar flare that wipes out key communications components such as satellites.

But the study said a combination of events such as coordinated cyber attacks, or a cyber incident occurring during another form of disaster, should be a serious concern for policy-makers.

“In that eventuality, ‘perfect storm’ conditions could exist,” said the report, written by Peter Sommer of the London School of Economics and Ian Brown of Britain’s Oxford University.

Governments are increasingly emphasizing the importance of cyber security.

The United States is preparing for cyber conflict and has launched its own military cyber command. Great Britain last October rated cyber attacks as one of the top external threats, promising to spend an extra 650 million pounds on the issue.

Meanwhile, emerging nations such as China and Russia are believed to see it as an arena in which they can challenge the United States’ conventional military dominance.

The Stuxnet computer worm — which targets industrial systems and was widely believed to be a state attack on Iran’s nuclear program — is seen as a sign of the increasing militarization of cyberspace. Click here to read more.