Terrorism, technology and the profession

Technology made the scale of the September 11 terrorist tragedy possible: it built both the towers and the planes that destroyed them, and it produced the funds and provided the communications the terrorists used to implement their plan. Much of this technology is digital. The authorities had technology in place to predict and prevent terrorist acts such as this and, because of September 11´s events, they will receive calls for much greater use of preventive technologies and systems. Much of this technology will be digital, and members of the computing profession will be heavily involved in its development. Many computing professionals have great experience in preventive systems, particularly for the Internet, and this experience will surely be relevant to the anti-terrorism effort. The author considers how their professional judgment should be used to evaluate proposals that, if accepted, will likely have a considerable effect on the conduct of everyday life, our freedom of movement and speech, and our personal privacy and liberties