It's the Cold War all over again, only this one's taking place in cyberspace. According to a report by security firm McAfee, there are a growing number of governments all around the globe preparing for potential cyber conflicts with other countries, DailyTech reports.

"There are at least five countries known to be arming themselves for this kind of conflict," McAfee Europe analyst Greg Day told the BBC. "To go to physical war requires billions of dollars. To go to cyber war most people can easily find the resources that could be used in these kinds of attacks."

Targets of such attacks are likely to be a nation's infrastructure, and the U.S., which is known to have an operating manual outlining the rules of cyber engagement, is also known to have used hack attacks alongside ground operations during the Iraq war. The UK, Germany, France, China, and North Korea are the five other countries actively developing their own capabilities.

"In physical warfare it's pretty clear who has which weapon and how they are using them," said Chris Wysopal, chief technology officer at Veracode which advises many governments on security. "In the networked world that attribution is incredibly difficult."