James Clapper, director of national intelligence, explaining to a congressional committee in February 2011 that he believed U.S. intelligence agencies had done the best they could to track the Arab Spring protests. Here’s what we do know: Some incidents will incite violent protest, political and social upheaval, or set off a barrage of cyber attacks. Researchers at Sandia National Laboratories have developed an early warning system that will alert officials to politically motivated cyber attacks or other threatening activities around the world.