Terrorists can cause us to resort to costly measures, but they must not cost us our rights. The reason that many terrorist groups abhor the United States is that we acknowledge and protect the rights inherent in every human. The terrorists represent those that seek to deny those rights. They seek to eliminate societies that not only protect but advocate those rights. I would also note that the history of fighting terrorism shows that societies that respond by infringing on civil liberties enlarge the pool of support for terrorists, instead of isolating and defeating them.
Draconian measures are a temporary palliative and a long term corrosive.
Terrorism, Cyber Security, and Rights Whether the terrorists' weapon is a truck bomb or a logic bomb, we must not react by throwing out the Bill of Rights. Because of the potential of destruction and dislocation that can be caused by cyber terrorism and information warfare, we may as a society chose to institute systems that are financially costly to protect our vital computer controlled systems. By definition such systems are potentially vulnerable to destruction through the new cracker tools and techniques. The costs of such efforts are passed along to the consumer and taxpayer. Thus, there is and will continue to be an increasing focus on systems and procedures to safeguard our computers, the information that is on them, and the functions they control.