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Source: ONE News
Militant groups, foreign states and criminal organizations pose
a growing threat to US security as they target government and
private computer networks, FBI Director Robert Mueller said.
In a speech to an internet security conference, Mueller said
militant groups like al Qaeda had primarily used the internet to
recruit members and plan attacks, but had made clear they also see
it as a target.
"Terrorists have shown a clear interest in pursuing hacking skills
and they will either train their own recruits or hire outsiders
with an eye toward combining physical attacks with cyber attacks,"
Mueller said.
He noted a cyberattack could have the same impact as a "well-placed
bomb."
Mueller added that some foreign governments, which he did not
identify, also posed a threat by seeking to use the internet for
espionage.
"Apart from the terrorist threat, nation-states may use the
Internet as a means of attack for political ends," he said.
"Nation-state hackers or mercenaries for hire" as well as rogue
hackers or international criminal syndicates are targeting
government networks, Mueller added.
"They seek our technology, our intelligence, our intellectual
property, even our military weapons and strategies."
The comments came in the wake of several international internet
security incidents.
In January, Google Inc, the world's No. 1 internet search engine,
said it had detected a sophisticated online attack on its systems
that originated in China and said it believed at least 20 other
companies had been targeted.
According to Google, one of the primary goals of the attacks was
accessing the personal e-mail accounts of Chinese human rights
activists.
Earlier this week, Spanish police arrested three men accused of
masterminding one of the largest computer crimes to date, in which
more than 13 million PCs were infected with a virus that stole
credit card numbers and data.
Mueller said international cooperation was essential to combating
online crime like the so-called Mariposa botnet incident in
Spain.
He added the FBI had 60 attache offices around the world as well
as special agents embedded with police forces in countries such as
Romania, Estonia and the Netherlands.
He urged businesses targeted in cyber-attacks to come forward to
help track down the perpetrators, saying the FBI was attuned to the
delicate nature of the situation for corporations.
"We will minimize the disruption to your business, we will
safeguard your privacy and your data and where necessary we will
seek protective orders to preserve trade secrets and business
confidentiality," he said.
