Is The War On Cyberterror Doing More Harm Than Good?

Say That Again

from the a-distraction dept

For years, we’ve been noting that there’s no evidence that we’re at any real risk from a “cyberterrorist” attack. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be aware and prepared, but Bruce Schneier is now adding to the voices saying that focusing so much on cyberterrorism is distracting from the real problem of cybercrime: “I think that the terrorist threat is overhyped, and the criminal threat is underhyped. I hear people talk about the risks to critical infrastructure from cyberterrorism, but the risks come primarily from criminals. It’s just criminals at the moment aren’t as ‘sexy’ as terrorists.” It seems clear at this point that most of the threats are monetary, from criminals looking to make money, than ideological. There are ways to prepare against both, but if we’re focusing too much on one, we may not be paying enough attention to the other.