Lack of cyber pros puts US in dangerous position

In testimony this year before the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Crime and Terrorism Subcommittee, Gordon Snow, assistant director of the FBI’s Cyber Division, said the number and sophistication of cyberattacks have increased dramatically during the past five years and are expected to continue to grow.

Although that paints a pretty bleak picture, what he said next caught the attention of cybersecurity professionals around the world. “The threat has reached the point that given enough time, motivation and funding, a determined adversary will likely be able to penetrate any system that is accessible directly from the Internet,” he said. If you think that is bad, hold on — there is more, and it gets worse. He went on to say, “The FBI has identified the most significant cyber threats to our nation as those with high intent and high capability to inflict damage or death in the U.S.; to illicitly acquire assets; or to illegally obtain sensitive or classified U.S. military, intelligence or economic information.” He went on to warn that the threat posed by cyber criminals and the potential economic losses were only part of this huge risk. He included in his threat description the FBI’s serious concerns about attacks on our critical infrastructure, the theft of intellectual property and disruption of supply chains.