Danahy: New Metaphors Needed for Cyber Threats

A new post is just in from colleague Jack Danahy re: the ill fit of the timeworn "Cyber Pearl Harbor" call to security arms. The Pearl Harbor analogy, like similar recollections of Cold War diplomacy, recalls a simpler time when you knew who the enemy was and what his capabilities were. Alas, 21st century threats, including cyber threats to internet, communicaitons and now, energy networks, have proven resistant to similarly neat classification:

If an attack comes, we will not find ourselves face to face with an attacker ready to do battle, but with a dark and gauzy space where we can only strike at shadows and hope by luck to hit something. Protection against these threats will come only with awareness and responsibility, and a sense among all of us, that we are responsible for our own protection.

You can read the whole post here.