Cyber Security in Context

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff recently said, "The potential consequences of a cyber attack are very real and every bit as concerning as the potential of a physical attach on the order of what saw on September 11." Page 27 of the May 1 2008 edition of Redmond Developer.

The world where I live has gradually become dependent on a technology that demands skilled and well trained people for its very life. We so appreciate the convenience of it all that we turn the complexity of it all over to expert geeks upon whom we can call when necessity demands.

Disaster preparation is simply not a fun subject. Training for any kind of community wide disaster is done by a tiny proportion of the population - primarily those medical and law enforcement people upon whom falls the primary first responder responsibilities. The general public simply hopes that a problem will not arise in their life time or their neighborhood. That is no doubt as it should be since the odds of a major disaster in the USA are historically low. However questions need to be raised about the odds changing in the light of new developments.

The cyber attack scenario is of a different nature than other disasters. We have depended on oceans and borders with friendly nations. Tom Friedman's concept of "a flat earth" is where we actually live when it comes to electronic communication and digital processing of information. The borders are gone.

I choose to be mentally and physically preparing for a testing time for our society.