The excerpt derives from Jonathan R. White, Terrorism: An Introduction, Third Edition, (Wadsworth Publishing, 2002).

U.S. VULNERABILITY TO TECHNOLOGICAL TERRORISM

The United States is the most technologically advanced superpower in the world. Technology has opened new doors to the future, which many Americans have taken for granted. Other national competitors have taken advantage of the United States's nonchalant attitude toward technology at times, but the United States stands as one of the masters of new industrial and technological techniques. Along with Japan and Western Europe, the United States is a technologically oriented society.

The United States is the most technologically advanced superpower in the world. Technology has opened new doors to the future, which many Americans have taken for granted. Other national competitors have taken advantage of the United States's nonchalant attitude toward technology at times, but the United States stands as one of the masters of new industrial and technological techniques. Along with Japan and Western Europe, the United States is a technologically oriented society.

There is no clear way to react to the problem of technological vulnerability. Some analysts, like Halstead and Ballard (1997), have called for rigid new safeguards and massive new security efforts. Others believe a calm assessment of potential threats is more in order (Heim, 1984). Analysts do not agree about the extent of the threat, and most of them focus on weapons of mass destruction. A study by B. J. Berkowitz et al. (1972) was one of the first to examine the implications of mass destruction weapons in the hands of terrorists. Its conclusion was that civil chaos would result. According to the study, several attempts were made by radical groups to employ some level of CBW attack from 1967 to 1970. Although this information is dated, the Aum Shinrikyo attack in Tokyo demonstrates the reality of the threat.