Cyber War

Dick Clarke's latest book is a must-read for anyone involved in emergency management. Clarke has come in for some criticism for his views and claims that the picture he paints is exaggerated. The book certainly has its weak areas and a few holes in its logic, but overall it paints a believable and frightening picture of the potential results of an attack our our internet and computing infrastructure. Even if it is only half true the issues it raises need our urgent attention.  It's not just about the internet going down, but potentially whole infrastructures (particularly the power grid). Many of the issues can only really be dealt with at a federal level, but we should all consider two questions: what would the impact be on emergency communications in our communities if the internet became unusable, and what would be the impact if the power went out for an extended period? In another post, I will look at the interesting issue of preparing for an internet and infrastructure outage at the same time as we are pushing for more use of the internet in Emergency Management.