Lost Decade or Golden Era: Computer Security since 9/11

In the 10 years since 9/11, the cybersecurity threat has evolved significantly, and every sector of the US economy has become more dependent than ever on the Internet. Today, major security breaches dominate headlines on a weekly basis. Intrusion campaigns such as "Operation Shady Rat" (disclosed by McAfee in August) and "Nitro" (disclosed by Symantec in October) show a systematic compromise of every significant sector of the economy, including technology, industrial manufacturing, defense, financial services, and government and nongovernmental organizations. In addition to the systematic compromises of these sectors, we've also seen hints and speculation of cyberwarfare operations including Stuxnet, Duqu, and the recent loss and capture of the US RQ-170 Sentinel spy drone over Iran. But over the same 10-year time period, security technology has arguably improved incrementally, with innovation occurring in some areas. The question the authors attempt to address in this point/counterpoint article is whether we're better off today in security than we were 10 years ago.