FBI official calls for secure, alternate Internet

The computer networks that control power plants and financial systems will never be secure enough and a new, highly secure alternative Internet should be considered for development, a top FBI official said.

Shawn Henry, the FBI's executive assistant director, said critical systems are under increasing threat from terror groups looking to buy or lease the computer skills and malware needed to launch a cyberattack. Henry said jihadist militants looking to harm the U.S. can tap organized crime groups who are willing to sell their services and abilities to attack computer systems. He would not say which terror group or whether any insurgent networks have actually been able to acquire the high-tech capabilities. But he said one way to protect critical utility and financial systems would be to set up a separate, highly secure Internet. Henry sketched out the Internet idea to a crowd at a conference of the International Systems Security Association, saying that cyberthreats will always continue to evolve and outpace efforts to defend networks against them.