In what can be deemed as a formal declaration of a secret cyber war that has been going on for decades, a private security company said in a last-month announcement that, in the last nearly seven years, US government and private firma have been attacked approximately 147 times by Chinese military hackers.

However, the lives of average Americans have not been substantially affected by the cyber war thus far; with the cyber attacks launched till now having resulted largely in service disruptions, chiefly hampering the process of logging into online accounts.

Noting that minor service disruptions are only a small indication of the grave damage that can be caused by cyber terrorists and hackers, cyber-security experts have cautioned that the most harmful of the cyber attacks can have the potential to impact almost all parts of life, especially in the US which apparently is the battleground where the new techniques of cyber war are being tested.

According to experts, hackers are capable of launching a `cyber 9/11' attack which could result in widespread chaos, including electrical failures, disappearance of money, and probably even death.

About the disquieting impact that the most harmful cyber attacks can potentially cause, Jeffrey Carr - CEO of Taia Global cyber security firm - said: "An adversary looking to cause chaos could pick any part of critical infrastructure, from banking to power to health care. All of those are vulnerable to cyber attack."