ABSTRACT
This chapter begins with the story of cyber-doom rhetoric’s role in the United States cybersecurity debate by examining some key examples from popular and official discourse, such as media coverage of Skyfall and Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta’s infamous cyber Pearl Harbor speech, among others. The use of cyber-doom rhetoric is exemplary of the tendency among policymakers and advocates to believe that appeals to fear are effective tools for raising awareness and motivating a response to social problems. Taking the breadth and complexity of real cybersecurity challenges seriously will require hearing from a wider diversity of voices and drawing from a broader range of knowledges and metaphors to shape the way we think, speak, and act. Addressing the technical aspects of cybersecurity, as well as improving our ability to mitigate the effects of a large-scale attack should it occur, will require addressing the broader social, political, and cultural aspects of the problem.
