Govt Comp.News - Assessing "cyberterror" - couldn't find any!

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

------ Forwarded Message
From: Jim Warren <jwarren () well com>
Date: Sat, 15 Mar 2003 10:23:15 -0800
To: Dave Farber <dave () farber net>, Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>
Subject: fwd: Govt Comp.News - Assessing "cyberterror" - couldn't find any!

[I've long questioned the widespread abuse of the highly provocative
term, "terrorism," by applying it to computer crime.  Always seemed
like over-hyping ... or just flat-out fear-mongering.  Perhaps we'll
soon hear of terrorist speeders and terrorist jay-walkers.  --jim]

Interview in Government Computer News:

> http://gcn.com/forum/qna_forum/21253-2.html
>
> Question and Answer
>
> Lloyd Batzler - GCN moderator:
>
> Welcome to our Forum with Dr. James A. Lewis, author of a report on the
> risks of cyberterrorism published by the Center for Strategic and
> International Studies in Washington.
>
> To start, Dr. Lewis, would you offer some background: What prompted
> this report, its timing and -- briefly -- what kind of feedback have you
> received since its release in December?
>
>
>
> James A. Lewis:
>
> I've been working on the issue of how to build secure public networks
> for about 7 years. I started out as a military analyst and I wanted to
> put the cyber terror/cyber war issue in a larger strategic context.
> About a year ago, I started looking for examples of cyber-terrorism,
> where hackers had shut down critical infrastuctures. I was surprised to
> discover that I couldn't find any, so I began to look more closely at
> the hypothetical scenarios involving cyber war. Most of them turned out
> to be implausible from a military or national security perspective.
> Hence the report.
>
> Feedback has been very positive, but it will take a while to persuade
> everyone. We still need to go through a debate over the risks of
> cyberterror.
>
> [...]


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