If Terrorists Launch a Major Cyberattack, We Won’t See It Coming

National-security experts have been warning of terrorist cyberattacks for 15 years. Why hasn’t one happened yet?

Kathy Gilsinan is a senior editor at The Atlantic, where she oversees the Global section.

Nov 1, 2018

National-security experts fear major terrorist cyberattacks, but their predictions have not yet come to fruition.Busà Photography / Getty

“The FBI assesses the cyberterrorism threat to the U.S. to be rapidly expanding,” said one law-enforcement official, testifying before Congress. “Terrorist groups will either develop or hire hackers, particularly for the purpose of complementing large physical attacks with cyber attacks.”

That assessment was made nearly 15 years ago. In the meantime, a generation of tech-savvy jihadists has exploited the internet to attract recruits, share bomb-making expertise, and incite violence. Yet they haven’t managed to pull off the devastating cyberattacks that experts have long feared.

With just days left before Americans go to the polls for midterm elections, it is worth considering: Why not?

“I’m as puzzled as you are,” said Michael Hayden, who served as CIA director from 2004 to 2008. “These folks are not cyberdumb.”

“They use the web and show a great deal of sophistication in how they use it, for many purposes,” he added. “But they have not yet used it to create either digital or physical destruction. Others have.”

Read: Writing the rules of cyberwar

Officials have never really stopped warning about the potential for destructive cyberattacks. As recently as last month, the U.S. government was warning that “foreign actors” including Russia, China, and Iran could try to meddle in the midterms—in a possible reprise of Russia’s internet-enabled attack on the 2016 presidential election.

Source: https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2018/11/terrorist-cyberattack-midterm-elections/574504/