Can Cyber Terrorism Exist? - Interview with Jim Harper of The Cato Institute

Jim Harper contends cyber terrorism does not exists, believing it's a creation of politicians, government contractors and pundits who try to make the problem of securing government IT bigger than it really is. Simply, it's a scare tactic. "Cyber terrorism, in particular, cannot exist," says Harper, director of information policy studies at The Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank. "I think there's no such thing as cyber terrorism because cyberattacks can't cause terror. They don't scare us, and that's an essential element of terrorism as the name implies." In an interview with Information Security Media Group's GovInfoSecurity.com, Harper also: Analogizes the digital world with the real world, and as everything in the real world isn't secured, not all things in cyberspace must be safeguarded, too. Proposes IT vendors assume more responsibility - and liability - for the products they sell in event of cyberattacks, even if that should raise the price of wares the government, businesses and consumers pay. Explains the failure of the Federal Information Security Management Act to truly secure government IT, in part, on lawmakers and policymakers not fully understanding the challenges faced when the law was written in 2002, a matter they must consider when reforming FISMA. Harper spoke with Eric Chabrow, managing editor of GovInfoSecurity.com. Also see these other articles about Harper: Is Term Cybersecurity Meaningless? Is Cyber Threat Overstated? Free Market Seen as FISMA Alternative