Critical infrastructure such as industrial systems, transportation and power grids are easy targets for cyberattacks and people responsible for IT and national security are worried about the future, said Eugene Kaspersky, founder of Kaspersky Lab, during a panel discussion that was part of the company's Endpoint Security 8 launch event in New York. Cyberattacks could cause massive damage to the tune of billions of dollars, he said.

Some attacks in recent memory such as Stuxnet, which hit industrial systems, and the Blaster worm, which possibly hurt the electrical grid on the U.S. East Coast, were damaging and exposed the weaknesses of national infrastructures, Kaspersky said. Countries like North Korea, China, the U.S. and South Korea, and organizations like NATO are establishing cybermilitary units to protect infrastructure and respond to attacks.

"The question is this year, next year, do we expect to see similar incidents? Yes or no? The answer is obvious. Yes. It will happen," Kaspersky said.

Systems need to be built around a secure OS environment and government regulation is needed, especially for industrial software design, panelists said. Stuxnet wreaked havoc because of dated software design and poorly trained software engineers. Attack techniques are getting more sophisticated, but even simplistic hack techniques can hurt infrastructure.

"The interesting thing about Stuxnet is that the attack itself against Siemens was incredibly simple," said Gary McGraw, CTO of Cigital. "It used to work in online games in 2004."