Were the daily assaults in Iraq not enough to alert American firms to the ever-present threat of terrorist attacks, the electricity blackout that hit New York, Michigan, Ohio, New Jersey, Connecticut and chunks of Canada on August 14th should have done so. Thankfully, terrorism was not the trigger for the blackout, but even so it underscored the vulnerability of American firms to attacks on "soft" economic targets, such as power stations and electricity lines, that can create broader mayhem. As airlines cancelled over 1,000 flights, Detroit's car factories ground to a halt and retailers shut shops, the cost of the blackout reached billions of dollars. Yet, as the second anniversary of the terrorist attacks of September nth approaches, American firms continue to distinguish themselves by how little they have done to buttress their defences. During the weeks after the World Trade Centre attacks, the rare signs of life in the stockmarket came from firms that had something to do with security. If they made metal detectors or anthrax medication or employee identification tags-to say nothing of missiles and jet aircraft-their shares went up.
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