17 Years Later: Applying Post-9/11 Lessons to Potential Cyber Attacks
Originally published by New America
Seventeen years ago today, Americans learned all too tragically that, as the 9/11 Commission later put it, “the system was blinking red” for a reason. Our country, we came to realize, had been facing grave terrorist threats for which our leadership had suffered “a failure of imagination,” in the words of the Commission’s co-chair. The consequences were terrible to behold.
Today, we are told by Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats that “the warning lights are blinking red again”—this time to alert us to the threat of cyberattacks. As former senior counterterrorism officials, we believe that 17 years of lessons learned from addressing terrorist threats can help us to tackle today’s ever-growing array of cyber threats. At the same time, we worry that talking about “blinking red” warnings in advance of a potential “cyber 9/11”may misapprehend the nature of the cyber threats we face. Cyberattacks don’t produce the unmistakable, crystallizing violence that our nation experienced on 9/11. Instead, they unfold more insidiously. And, in that sense, we’re not still waiting for a cyber 9/11. It’s already here.
—
- Read full “17 Years Later: Applying Post-9/11 Lessons to Potential Cyber Attacks” article on Just Security
- Read key findings from New America’s annual threat assessment of the terrorist threat to the West since 9/11
- Click here to download “Jihadist Terrorism 17 Years After 9/11” in a printable PDF
In The News
Health
Voting
National Security
WILMINGTON, Del. - President-elect Joe Biden unveiled several of his top national security picks on Monday, his campaign revealing he will nominate Avril Haines to be his director of national intelligence and Alejandro Mayorkas, to be his secretary of Homeland Security. In both cases, the nominations... Read More
Federal agencies are bolstering arsenals of tear gas, sponge-tipped bullets and other crowd-control gear after President Donald Trump ordered U.S. agents to assume new policing powers in cities to quell protests that he said threatened government monuments, statues and property. The Justice Department, Homeland Security, and... Read More
WASHINGTON — Billions of dollars included in Senate Republicans’ proposed $1 trillion installment of coronavirus emergency relief funding would restore money for military hardware that was redirected to pay for President Donald Trump’s border wall. The Trump administration reprogrammed funding for a slew of ships, aircraft... Read More
Whatever’s in John Bolton’s book, President Donald Trump really doesn’t want it to see the light of day. Trump’s Justice Department filed a lawsuit Tuesday asking a federal judge to block the former national security adviser’s book from being published next week over allegations that the... Read More
President Donald Trump on Saturday touted Rep. John Ratcliffe as the nation’s intelligence chief, calling him “terrific” and predicting quick confirmation despite widespread bipartisan qualms that derailed his nomination to the same post last summer. Ratcliffe, a Texas Republican, was a leading defender of the president... Read More
WASHINGTON - Despite assurances from President Donald Trump that "Iran appears to be standing down," after responding to the U.S. killing of Iranian Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani with a casualty-free missile attack on U.S. bases in Iraq, intelligence and cyber security experts remain on edge. Though... Read More
