PERSPECTIVE ON GULF CRISIS : America, the Vulnerable : Though it would be bloodless, ‘techno-sabotage’ could inflict much damage on the home front.

Americans are justifiably concerned about the risks faced by our servicemen and women on the front lines in the Persian Gulf.

But the “rear”--meaning the United States itself--is also vulnerable. Although Iraqi missiles may not reach our shores, our nation’s technological infrastructure--telephone circuits, air traffic control, banking network--is very much at risk. While preventing bloody acts of terrorism may come first to mind, our society also faces the prospect of bloodless but highly disruptive “techno-sabotage.”

In a report released last month, the National Academy of Sciences warned: “The modern thief can steal more with a computer than with a gun. Tomorrow’s terrorist may be able to do more damage with a keyboard than with a bomb.”

Seven years ago, when my novel “The Big Byte” was published, some dismissed the plot--a successful attack on the Federal Reserve’s electronic banking system--as far-fetched. Since then, dozens of incidents have shown just how vulnerable we and other technologically advanced nations truly are:

--Computers have been penetrated by “worms” that destroyed data and engendered “viruses” that spread to other computers via telephone lines.

--Security Pacific had about $350,000 stolen from its automated teller machines with a special ATM card.

--A programming error in a machine used for radiation therapy killed three patients by exposing them to 100 times the normal dose.

--Nippon Telegraph and Telephone was forced to spend about $30 million to remodel 410,000 public telephones in Japan when techno-vandals found a simple way to alter a prepaid, 500-yen card (worth about $3.70) and make thousands of calls.

--A fire in an Illinois telephone switching station and two incidents in New Jersey where high-capacity phone lines were accidentally severed knocked out long-distance service in Chicago and New York City, respectively; in the most recent case trading was suspended on commodity markets and flights to and from New York’s three major airports were halted for two hours.

Whether intentional or accidental, each of these acts served to highlight the vulnerability of the computers that have come to dominate modern societies. As knowledge of computers and communications becomes diffused throughout the world, terrorists may decide they can exact a greater price--and at less personal risk--through techno-sabotage than firearms and bombs.

Terrorists cannot win against a determined United States; they can, however, create suffering that may lead us to determine the game is not worth the candle. The Beirut bomber who killed more than 241 U.S Marines led President Reagan to that exact conclusion.

An adversary who wanted to bring the war home to Americans would find our oceans no barrier. Satellites, microwave antennas and fiber-optic networks have laid open the entire American continent to electronic signals that can originate anywhere on Earth. The computerized instructions that regulate air traffic, control hospital machinery and move several hundred billion dollars among U.S. banks every day can be reprogrammed--or disrupted--from a terminal thousands of miles away.

Thus far, according to the National Research Council, “there has been no successful systematic attempt to subvert any of our critical computing systems. Unfortunately, there is reason to believe that our luck will soon run out.”

When it does, the United States may find itself facing a threat to the technological engine that drives so much of our economy. Imagine the impact in your own life:

--If you could not count on telephone service.

--If the electronic signals that regulate highways, railroads and air traffic were knocked out.

--If credit cards and checks were not accepted because the means to verify your account had been short-circuited.

Such incidents have occurred, but their impact has mostly been limited. We can hope that will always be the case, or we can get serious about protecting the technology on which we have grown so dependent. The National Research Council advocates that we “attempt to build computer systems that are secure and trustworthy.”

We have the knowledge to do so; we must now develop the will.