Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, February 2, 2010

US Intelligence Community Annual Threat Assessment

News Alert

On Tuesday, February 2, White House Director of National Intelligence Dennis C. Blair appeared before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence to deliver the Annual Threat Assessment of the U. S. Intelligence Community, in which he raised the alarm about malicious cyber activity which is occurring on an "unprecedented scale with extraordinary sophistication."

CEO Response

Brian M. Ahern, CEO, Industrial Defender, Inc.
"The latest remarks from Director of National Intelligence Dennis C. Blair greatly underscore the critical threat cyber attacks pose on our nation's information infrastructure as a top priority. However, while this "cyber-Pearl Harbor" that Mr. Blair references is real and impending, our informational infrastructure is not the only thing at risk. Our operational infrastructure – the very systems at the heart of the electric grid, controlling processing operations in chemical plants and oil refineries, controlling access to our water supplies and our transportation systems – are equally at risk, and a cyber attack to this infrastructure can cause significant threats to public safety, such as environmental damage, disruptions in power, energy and transportation, and even loss of life. The public and private sectors both need to acknowledge these threats of crippling attack from increasingly sophisticated enemies and take swift steps to assure that our nation's critical infrastructure is secured."