Last week Director of National Intelligence James Clapper publicly told all of us to get ready: The big one is coming.
Clapper went on to say, "Cyber threats to U.S. national and economic security are increasing in frequency, scale, sophistication and the severity of impact." That statement should not be a surprise to anyone that is engaged in cybersecurity or our nation's critical infrastructure. However, what he also said is raising concerns.
The director clearly warned all of us of a "large, Armageddon-scale" cyberattack. That is what caught the headlines, but he went on to say that is not the most likely scenario. What was under-reported is what he believes was the primary concern and that is the low to moderate level cyberattacks that come from a "variety of sources that will continue and probably expand."
Reference video of his testimony:
The coverage concentrating on the Armageddon event detracts from the real and present issue that impacts the vast majority of us. Every computer or device connected to the Internet is a potential threat and must be treated as such. We have already past the point where we should have moved to a proactive approach to security. Some have even gone as far as to suggest that we mandate that everything that connects to the Internet have a minimum level of protection built-in. One thing is clear, we can no longer just continue and approach this threat to the U.S. national and economic security the same way as we have done in the past. It is not getting us where we need to be.
MORE INFO: C4ISR & Networks and Federal Times proudly present CyberCon 2015, a forum to discuss how to secure defense and federal networks. Join us Nov. 18 at theRitz Carlton in Pentagon City, Virginia.
