Cybersecurity has been getting a lot of attention in the federal government lately. Two top administration officials headed out to San Francisco this week to speak at the annual RSA security conference. First Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, then FBI Director Robert Mueller, told attendees that they need help — both technology and talent — to succeed in the fight against cyber criminals.
Mueller noted some success, such as the bust of the Mariposa botnet, but said that law enforcement are at risk of falling dangerously behind in the cybersecurity “cat and mouse game.” eSecurity Planet has the details.
SAN FRANCISCO – If anyone came to the RSA Conference this week expecting to hear technology was winning the war against cyber threats, they’d be sorely disappointed. Just as Homeland Security Chief Janet Napolitano did the previous day, FBI Director Robert Mueller told an audience here at the conference that the U.S. risks falling dangerously behind in the fight against cyber criminals.
Noting the breadth of attacks by numerous criminal organizations here and abroad, Mueller said our computer systems are suffering “death by a thousand cuts, bleeding data, bit by bit and terabyte by terabyte,” as he put it.
“We’re playing cat and mouse and the mouse seems to be ahead most of the time,” the FBI director continued. “We have to make the cost of business too expensive for them.”
Wednesday, Napolitano urged that more and faster progress needed to be made to shore up the nation’s cyber defenses. She said it’s crucial the Department of Homeland Security evolve. “We don’t live in a static world and … we have to prepare for disasters from any source. The threats to cybersecurity are threats to our homeland,” she said.
