US cybersecurity chief warns of 'market' in malware

For the first time since taking up the post in March, Philip Reitinger told AFP the spred of malware like botnets-software now constitutes an underground market economy.

More must be done to combat the lucrative trade in malicious software, which threatens sensitive government networks and personal data, the head of the US National Cybersecurity Center warned Tuesday.

Hackers now not only assemble botnets, they sell botnets. The underground market economy is behind that. That includes organized crime groups.

There have been risks to government capabilities from botnet attacks. They are threatening government networks and personal data, the head of the US National Cybersecurity Center says.

There are reports that the US electricity grid and F-35 fighter jet programs had been the target of attacks, amid murmurings about backing from foreign governments. "Everyone recognizes that we are in a national security moment."

The threats have been rising for some time and although our capabilities as a government and in fact internationally have been going up, it's I think clear that the status quo is no longer sufficient.

"Everyone thought of hackers as sort of curious kids that sat in their room and banged on the computer late into the night with their pizza boxes and, you know, they were just out there to make a name for themselves.
"Cracking is very different now, the threats have become much more sophisticated," he said.

Cyber attacks are thought to cost the US economy around eight billion dollars a year, although estimates including intellectual property theft put the figure at closer to one trillion dollars.

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Government Acknowledges Cyber Crime

To All of My Fellow Computer Owners:

Now is the most important time to do something for yourself and your family. Computer security and Identity theft is more important than ever.

none of these 21st century challenges can be fully met, without America's digital infrastructure -- the backbone that underpins a prosperous economy and a strong military and an open and efficient government. Without that foundation we can't get the job done.
So cyberspace is real. And so are the risks that come with it.

It's the great irony of our Information Age -- the very technologies that empower us to create and to build also empower those who would disrupt and destroy. And this paradox -- seen and unseen -- is something that we experience every day.

It's about the privacy and the economic security of American families. We rely on the Internet to pay our bills, to bank, to shop, to file our taxes. But we've had to learn a whole new vocabulary just to stay ahead of the cyber criminals who would do us harm -- spyware and malware and spoofing and phishing and botnets.

Millions of Americans have been victimized, their privacy violated, their identities stolen, their lives upended, and their wallets emptied. According to one survey, in the past two years alone cyber crime has cost Americans more than $8 billion.

But every day we see waves of cyber thieves trolling for sensitive information -- the disgruntled employee on the inside, the lone hacker a thousand miles away, organized crime, the industrial spy and, increasingly, foreign intelligence services.

In one brazen act last year, thieves used stolen credit card information to steal millions of dollars from 130 ATM machines in 49 cities around the world -- and they did it in just 30 minutes. A single employee of an American company was convicted of stealing intellectual property reportedly worth $400 million. It's been estimated that last year alone cyber criminals stole intellectual property from businesses worldwide worth up to $1 trillion.

In short, America's economic prosperity in the 21st century will depend on cybersecurity.
And this is also a matter of public safety and national security. We count on computer networks to deliver our oil and gas, our power and our water. We rely on them for public transportation and air traffic control. Yet we know that cyber intruders have probed our electrical grid and that in other countries cyber attacks have plunged entire cities into darkness.

The Federal Government is putting computer security and Identity Theft on high priority, Don’t you think it is time for you to take the responsibility to get the best computer security for your computer and the best Identity Theft protection for you and your family?

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