In my 20 years of specializing in computer systems security, I NEVER thought I’d see this. According to the US Direction of National Intelligence, James Clapper, the #1 threat to Global Security is NOT global warming, nukes, or WMD’s:
Cyber is the #1 Global Threat!
The Director of National Intelligence, James R. Clapper delivered a Statement for the Record: “Worldwide Threat Assessment of the US Intelligence Community” to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence on March 12, 2013.
The first paragraph of the document, in the Introduction, has the most profound description of VUCA (Volatlity, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity) I have ever read.
The statement declares Cyber the top Global Threat. The first paragraph of the Cyber section describes a global quandary as advances in technology outstrip our ability to manage it. (Fortunately, SkyNet has not yet become self-aware.)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103064/quotes?qt=qt0416752)
If you read anything this week, read the following two excerpts from the document (entire statement included below):
INTRODUCTION
This year, in both content and organization, this statement illustrates how quickly and radically the world—and our threat environment—are changing. This environment is demanding re-evaluations of the way we do business, expanding our analytic envelope, and altering the vocabulary of intelligence. Threats are more diverse, interconnected, and viral than at any time in history. Attacks, which might involve cyber and financial weapons, can be deniable and un-attributable. Destruction can be invisible, latent, and progressive. We now monitor shifts in human geography, climate, disease, and competition for natural resources because they fuel tensions and conflicts. Local events that might seem irrelevant are more likely to affect US national security in accelerated time frames.
GLOBAL THREATS CYBER
We are in a major transformation because our critical infrastructures, economy, personal lives, and even basic understanding of—and interaction with—the world are becoming more intertwined with digital technologies and the Internet. In some cases, the world is applying digital technologies faster than our ability to understand the security implications and mitigate potential risks.
To read the whole document, click on:
Dr. Turbyfill has been head of engineering organizations and software architect with 20+ years of experience in: Security (Cyber and Physical); Risk Management; SDLC; Development Methodologies; Enterprise Products and Services; Compliance; Database, Strategy and Roadmaps; management of multiple groups in domestic and international locations; startups and turnarounds. Dr. Turbyfill has a consistent track record of delivering quality products within budget and on time and has consistently built leading edge technologies and products including:
- First database benchmark using experimental design techniques, the Wisconsin Benchmark;
- One of the first wireless LAN’s with radio, antenna and IP Layer encryption;
- First Firewall Appliance, SunScreen SPF 100 which also included a certificate authority and one of the first commercial IP Layer VPN’s, SKIP;
- First round-trip email marketing systems with interactive Java applets;
- First Managed Security Service at Counterpane Internet Security;
- First virtualized automated test environments for application stacks, the StackSafe Test Center.