On the Cloud Computing mailing list supported by Google Groups, a topic came up that is actually quite interesting.

One member asked the question, "if we are going to potentially have a major shift in the number and type of IT jobs over the next 3~5 years, resulting in a large number of IT-related layoffs, are we actually building a new generation of cyber-terrorists?"

Guess the paraphrase of this question could be, "could a generation of scorned computer geeks be the next generation of terrorist?"

Actually, it is an interesting question.  As cloud computing and virtualization allow consolidation of traditional data center and IT roles, what will become of all the IT professionals who may not find a home in the virtual data center of the future?  If the options are either living under a bridge, or using your skills for financial gain (under somewhat nefarious conditions), what would you expect tech people to do?

Of course a significant percentage will take the initiative and start training or preparing themselves for lucrative jobs of the future.  But we can expect another percentage to fall into the "victim" category of persons left behind, or suffering a false sense of entitlement that the business community still owes them something for deeds and work done in the past.  Not the case.

However we must keep in mind this is not your garden-variety gang banger who proves his toughness by robbing a taco truck.  This is a generation of well-educated economic victims who have the skills to hack their way into data which most of us continue to harbor misconceptions that we believe (the data) is secure.

We've gone through technical paradigms in the past, but never in a world that is globalized through use of telecommunications and data networks.  I guess the good news is we will also spawn a whole new expansion within the data security industry.

I personally do not believe we will face a generation of super-geek terrorists, any more than we've dealt with over the past 20 years.  On the other hand....