Communications of the ACM
Cyberattacks Are 'Existential Threat' to U.S., FBI Says
The threat from cyberattacks is so severe that it actually threatens the very existence of the United States, says Steven Chabinsky, the deputy assistant director of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation's cyber division. He says the threat comes from two sources—foreign governments and terrorists.
Chabinsky says foreign governments use cyberattacks in order to steal state secrets and private-sector intellectual property in hope of undermining the stability of the U.S. government and weakening the U.S. military and economy. But Chabinsky says a bigger threat comes from terrorists, who are increasingly turning to cyber technologies in order to exploit the U.S.'s weaknesses. He says there are several steps that need to be taken in order to deal with this threat, including adopting tier levels of service at federal agencies in order to limit the ability of vital systems to interoperate with weak and vulnerable systems.
Chabinsky also says that government organizations need to evaluate their risk postures and ask vendors who provide them with security tools whether they can guarantee the security of their systems.
Finally, citizens should help law enforcement officials by reporting cybersecurity breaches, Chabinsky says.
From Computerworld
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