Issue Report: Cybersecurity

Each issue team gave short presentations on their priorities for SA to DC. Below is the report from the leaders of the Cybersecurity issue team, led by John Dickson, Principal, Denim Group.

Intelligence Chief Sounds Warning on Security Risks

Gen. James Clapper, the U.S. director of national intelligence, says that never in his 50 years of work in
the intelligence community has he seen the United States more beset with intelligence crises around the world than at the present time.  Clapper made his comments during a morning meeting with members of the SA to DC 2014 mission.

Clapper principally identified the revelations of former government contractor Edward Snowden, which he said were "terribly damaging" to the United States.  Decisions to curtail intelligence operations in light of those revelations combined with budget cuts in the intelligence community have led to "a lot less capacity to keep the country safe."  Lack of job security and conflicting messages from the nation's elected leaders, he said, have taken a serious toll on the morale of the U.S. intelligence workforce.

Externally, Clapper identified two primary external threats.  First, the threat of cyber attacks on U.S. interests is growing, both from A-team players such as Russia and China and from emerging actors in Iran and North Korea.  Second, he said Syria is beginning to resemble Afghanistan in 2000 -- a proving ground for international terrorists for whom he said there is evidence of foreign plots.

The combined lack of intelligence capacity and growing international threat are particularly dangerous.  "What we are doing is accepting greater risk," Clapper said.  "We are at a far higher risk mode than two years ago."

US Intelligence expert reports on impact of sequester

The nation's ability to gather the current amount of intelligence on threats around the world will be impacted by sequestration, even though they will not start the cuts until later in the year, according to Corin Stone, Assistant Director of National Intelligence Policy and Strategy, Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

The ability to gain new intelligence in areas that are not the top priorities will suffer first and we will see a slowdown in processing information. The agency will also scale back research, which could lead to a gap in ability to act quickly.

"We will see cuts in travel, conferences, and all non essential activities. I was even asked to walk here today," she said.

She noted that "What keeps us up at night, is that we can calculate what we will cut and what we will not be able to afford to do when cuts happen; but we cannot measure the impact of what we won't get or what we won't know." However, she did assure the group that the NSA will continue to focus on mission and do all we can to make our nation secure.