Everywhere I read states that these things ARE going to happen, not a "maybe" or a "Possibility", but just a matter of when.
I don't think the risk is escalating, but fear is. Maybe the information age helps keep these fears festering and growing. Don't believe everything you read. Lots of good is happening in our world, but good stuff are fillers for the back of the paper, not headline material. Fear-mongering sells papers Fear-mongering helps the WTBTS grow.
When is the last time you have seen India in the news? There is a populous nation, once regularly on the brink of starvation, who is industriously working itself out of third-world status.