Exploring Youth Cyber Threat Risks in National Security Contexts

Are you under 30? If so, jokes former National Security Advisor Anthony Lake in his book "Six Nightmares," chances are you have enough technical know-how to be a cyber-threat. And if you don't, says Lake, you can find everything you need, . . . Are you under 30? If so, jokes former National Security Advisor Anthony Lake in his book "Six Nightmares," chances are you have enough technical know-how to be a cyber-threat. And if you don't, says Lake, you can find everything you need, including cyber-attack tools and their instruction manuals, on the Internet. Armed with these tools, "millions of computer-savvy individuals could wreak havoc against the United States."

Lake isn't the only policy wonk warning us of our own vulnerability. On March 22, National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice and Richard Clarke, who heads U.S. counter-terrorism efforts, issued a warning against computer attacks that could disrupt vital services in the United States. "It is a paradox of our times," said Rice, "that the very technology that makes our economy so dynamic and our military forces so dominating also makes us more vulnerable."

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