By David Garrett Jr.
Secretary of Defense, Leon Panetta spoke to the Business Executives for National Security in New York City on October 11 about cyber security. He described the internet as a “battlefield of the future where adversaries can seek to do harm to our country, to our economy, and to our citizens.”
He continued, “. . . the greater danger facing us in cyberspace goes beyond crime and it goes beyond harassment. A cyber attack perpetrated by nation states or violent extremists groups could be as destructive as the terrorist attack on 9/11.”
Panetta went on to describe attacks he says we’ve already experienced. He mentioned the denial of service attacks that have recently occured against U.S. banks. He described a virus that destroyed 30,000 computers belonging to the Saudi Arabian oil company, Aramco.
Panetta said, “we know that foreign cyber actors are probing America’s critical infrastructure networks. They are targeting the computer control systems that operate chemical, electricity and water plants and those that guide transportation throughout this country. We know of specific instances where intruders have successfully gained access to these control systems.”
He didn’t explain those specific instances, but gave a general belief of what he thinks could happen:
“An aggressor nation or extremist group could use these kinds of cyber tools to gain control of critical switches. They could, for example, derail passenger trains or even more dangerous, derail trains loaded with lethal chemicals.
“They could contaminate the water supply in major cities or shutdown the power grid across large parts of the country. The most destructive scenarios involve cyber actors launching several attacks on our critical infrastructure at one time, in combination with a physical attack on our country. Attackers could also seek to disable or degrade critical military systems and communication networks.
“The collective result of these kinds of attacks could be a cyber Pearl Harbor; an attack that would cause physical destruction and the loss of life. In fact, it would paralyze and shock the nation and create a new, profound sense of vulnerability.”
Panetta said that the Department of Homeland Security is the leader for domestic cyber security. He said that the Department of Defense will not monitor citizen’s personal computers or communications. “That is not our goal. That is not our job. That is not our mission.” Panetta stressed that Congress must pass the Cybersecurity Act of 2012.
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