Americans now fear cyberattack more than nuclear attack

The Hill, BY DANIEL DE VISÉ – 04/07/23

Americans now see cyberattack as the greatest threat facing the country, two recent polls show, suggesting that cyber fears have outflanked concern over climate change, immigration, terrorism or nuclear weapons. 

The national obsession with computer-on-computer attack, documented in a 2023 Gallup poll and a 2022 Pew Research survey, comes at a time when cyberattack seems to be everywhere and nowhere. 

………………………………………………. In the Gallup poll, published last month, 84 percent of respondents rated cyberterrorism as a critical threat, ranking it above 10 other fears, including international terrorism, global warming, the conflict between Russia and Ukraine and Iran’s nuclear program.  ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

And, of course, the world faces many perils beyond cyberattack. One is nuclear war. Nuclear fears surged in the weeks after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

More than a year later, the nuclear threat seems greater than ever. The Doomsday Clock, a symbol of humanity’s proximity to extinction, stands at 90 seconds to midnight, signifying a moment of unprecedented danger. 

Peter Kuznick, a history professor and director of the Nuclear Studies Institute at American University, believes “the danger of nuclear war is probably greater” now than at the invasion’s start. 

But the nuclear threat, Kuznick said, is “something that people don’t want to think about.”   

https://thehill.com/policy/cybersecurity/3938210-americans-now-fear-cyberattack-more-than-nuclear-attack/
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April 8, 2023 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, USA