Will there be a digital Pearl Harbor?

Former NSA computer scientists Dave Aitel discusses the potential threat of a digital cyber attack.

Interviewer:

What’s the great risk here? Is it an economic risk? Or is it the idea that cyber terrorists might hack into our infrastructure, bring down our energy infrastructure or perhaps bring down the banking system. What is the greatest risk as you see it?

Aitel:

The greatest risk is always something that you never in your wildest dreams predicted.  It’s something you cannot plan for. That’s why Leon Panetta used the Pearl Harbor analogy.

…The reality of what we model is that we model terrorist attacks on things like power and transportation, and other things we understand are vulnerable. But the reality of what’s really vulnerable and what people are really targeting may have nothing to do with those things.