Homeland Security Chief Warns that a "cyber 9/11" could happen "imminently"

[Lowell]

"[[Reuters) - Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano warned on Thursday that a major cyber attack is a looming threat and could have the same sort of impact as last year's Superstorm Sandy, which knocked out electricity in a large swathe of the Northeast.

Napolitano said a "cyber 9/11" could happen "imminently" and that critical infrastructure - including water, electricity and gas - was very vulnerable to such a strike."

Link to full article

This strikes me as a bit of hyperbole, maybe positioning her department in the upcoming budget cuts. Also 9/11 while a a tragic event it was a mere blip on both damage to and effect on the economy as a whole.

Nonetheless, the vulnerabilities exist and are growing proportionate to our dependency on the internet. The first shots have been fired with Stuxnet, Shamoon and other weaponized viruses. Want a job with a secure future, I tell young people, go into cyber security.

Does this keep you awake at night?

[JBMcB]

No. Critical systems in this country aren't on the internet. If networked at all, they use leased lines and private packet-switched networks.

It's still possible to hop into a secure network, as Stuxnet did, but it requires detailed information on the network you are trying to get into. Whomever made stuxnet *really* knew what they were doing - IE they had a copy set up of the network they are trying to get into.

This is just a ploy for more money.

[compn]

homeland security, those guys what told people to buy plastic sheeting and duct tape?
yeah, those guys are credible.

[lpg]

Also a good way to gain more control over the Internet. Some ex-TSA agent with his sweaty hand waiting to pull the switch on the Internet in the name of national security,

[rb336]

They've been saying this for oh, at least a decade, if not two

[Ray1936]

It all has to be true. I read it on the internet.

Bon Jour.

[lpg]

It all has to be true. I read it on the internet.

Bon Jour.

And you can't put anything on the Internet that isn't true.