I expect that most emergency managers are focused on natural hazards and then maybe terrorism. Cyber events, be they from terrorists, criminals or foreign states, are coming in a distant third at best. My only concern about this type of thinking is that the consequences of a cyber attack will eventually impact critical infrastructure and then systems and ultimately individuals.
How many people are now living at home, but dependent upon electronic devices that need electric power to function? As many local emergency managers found out with Hurricane Sandy the demands for power far outstrip a community's ability to provide system wide electricity and portable power. We are decentralizing our healthcare system and at the same time losing the redundancy that existed in formal institutions that at least have had standards that they needed to comply with.
See page nine (upper right corner) of the current edition of the Puget Sound Business Journal that is looking towards 2013 and beyond. Note the article on cybercrime and let's then see what happens and when. It is not a prediction I look forward to coming true--but, eventually it must.
And, as a side note see the article on the Kindle Reader and how it will soon be passe. Technology is moving fast!
