CRISISBOOM

Top Intelligence-Security Officials Say Computer Attacks Increasing

By JASON RYAN

Top U.S. intelligence officials have raised concerns about the growing vulnerability the United States faces from cyberwarfare threats and malicious computer activity that CIA Director Leon Panetta said “represents the battleground for the future.”

“The potential for the next Pearl Harbor could very well be a cyber-attack,” he testified on Capitol Hill Thursday before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.

Director of National Intelligence James Clapper also appeared, telling the committee, “This threat is increasing in scope and scale, and its impact is difficult to overstate.”

There are roughly 60,000 new malicious computer programs identified each day, Clapper said, citing industry estimates.

“Some of these are what we define as advanced, persistent threats, which are Read more…