William Perry, an expert on the vulnerability of the nation's infrastructure to a terrorist attack, will deliver a Voices of Discovery Series lecture at 7:30 p.m., tonight in McCrary Theatre. Details...
Perry, professor of computer information systems in the College of Business at Western Carolina University, will discuss the threat cyber-terrorism poses to the nation’s infrastructure and services. His lecture is titled “The Science of Protecting the Nation’s Critical Infrastructure.”
A former Naval officer, Perry has experience in counterintelligence and threat assessment, and has collaborated with the CIA and FBI on threats to U.S. infrastructure. “A critical infrastructure is vital to the operation of the economy and government,” says Perry. “Its incapacity or destruction would have a debilitating impact on the defense or economic security of the United States.”
Perry will discuss efforts to protect digital information, which he believes is crucial in the fight against cyber-terrorism. This information could be used by terrorists to disrupt or cripple banking and finance, defense, transportation, energy, the food and water supply, telecommunications and computer security.
Perry’s lecture is free and open to the public. The Voices of Discovery science speaker series, sponsored by Elon College, the College of Arts and Sciences, invites noted scholars in science and mathematics to campus to share their knowledge and experience with students.