Cyber Terrorism

The CBS TV show “60 Minutes” has often been scary, but usually for me, it’s the recurring nightmare of opening my front door to discover Mike Wallace and a camera crew waiting to pounce. Whether I did anything wrong or not is immaterial. If you end up on “60 Minutes” you will always appear guilty under the barrage of accusations.

Last night, however, I was truly frightened at the report on Cyber Terrorism. Although I had heard the term, I hadn’t realized how far some countries and rogue organizations have gone already in infiltrating our banking, commerce and yes, even our military computer systems.

More fascinating is the thought that the next 9-11-type attack might be done SOLELY via the internet—terrorists operating computers from anywhere—tapping into our missile systems—or more likely, into the nation’s power grid.

It was on this date in 1965 that the Great Blackout of the Northeast happened, giving us our first glimpse over 40 years ago of the havoc to be dealt with in the event of a power failure of massive proportions. Today, with our dependence on computers and the web, it is fair to say that we are even MORE dependent on electricity and even more vulnerable to the aftermath of losing the juice.

A couple of videos today—first, here is the CBS News Report from the 1965 Blackout:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdF-CsxqDko

For those of us old enough to remember the 1965 event, it was unsettling to be sure. What would happen if the same thing occurred—only this time, it was a terrorist attack?
Here is the “60 Minutes” report from last night:


Watch CBS News Videos Online


http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=5578986n

In an age where “conventional” terrorist-attack prevention competes with restoring the economy, creating jobs and providing health care, we cannot lose sight that the spector of Cyber Terrorism is perhaps our greatest threat—but one that will not likely galvanize the nation into a response---UNTIL IT HAS ALREADY HAPPENED.

Well, if you believe the reported incidents outlined on CBS, it HAS already happened—and we as citizens need to keep the prevention of cyber terrorism a top priority in the hierarchy of problems jockeying for attention and funding.

Our very survival may depend on it.

If you’d like my blog in your daily weekday inbox, just let me know- tim.moore@citcomm.com