A recent Gallup poll that asked Americans what they fear most shows how quickly cyber insecurity has risen to the mainstream.
The poll, conducted in Q1 2018, came up with the top three things Americans fear as a "critical threat."
- 82%: Development of nuclear weapons by North Korea
- 81%: Cyber terrorism—the use of computers to cause disruption or fear in society
- 75%: International terrorism
Cyber terror and nuclear war neck and neck? Is there any more indication that cyber truly is an existential warfare domain?
Worst case scenario involving cyber terror
One thing that is unclear from the study results is how, exactly, respondents define cyber terror. This could mean different things to different people.
I recently interviewed a man who knows a lot about the possibilities and worst case scenarios.
Former Director of Operations at U.S. Cyber Command, Major General (Ret.) Brett Williams, spoke at SecureWorld Detroit, where he told me what he fears the most in the cyber domain:
"We should be concerned with a very comprehensive attack, that doesn't have a devastating effect on any one area, but in combination has a significant impact."
Williams is co-founder and COO of IronNet Cybersecurity. He also talked to us about America's top three cyber threats.
