...and much more, as vehicles, gadgets, even clothing becomes computerized and Internet-friendly.
What this all means is that we have to start thinking about the security of the Internet of Things--whether the issue in question is today's airplanes or tomorrow's smart clothing. We can't repeat the mistakes of the early days of the PC and then the Internet, where we initially ignored security and then spent years playing catch-up. We have to build security into everything that is going to be connected to the Internet.
This is going to require both significant research and major commitments by companies. It's also going to require legislation mandating certain levels of security on devices connecting to the Internet, and at network providers that make the Internet work. This isn't something the market can solve on its own, because there are just too many incentives to ignore security and hope that someone else will solve it.
That last sentence is the kicker. We've seen the largest companies almost completely ignore security basics over just the past few years (e.g., the Target credit card breach), even companies whose services are almost entirely online (LinkedIn). Once damn near everything is connected to the Internet, new forms of catastrophe are possible, ones we can control, if enough of society cares.