According to the FBI, revenues from cyber-crime, for the first time ever, exceeded drug trafficking as the most lucrative illegal global business, estimated at reaping more than $1 trillion annually in illicit profits.
AT&T Chief Security Officer Edward Amoroso told a Senate Commerce Committee that cyber-security threats have increased significantly over the past five years, and are evolving to the point where they pose a significant threat to both private and government institutions.
Testifying before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, Amoroso said, "Evolving and more lethal types of cyber-attacks can devastate infrastructure. It has become so easy and rampant that the risk has grown exponentially. The result is a laser-like cyber-attack on an unsuspecting business or government system."
Amoroso recommended three actions to address the growing cyber threat to the U.S.
- The federal government procurement process needs to be upgraded to implement sufficient security protections to deal with large-scale cyber-attacks.
- More international partnership and cooperation is required during a cyber-attack.
- Endorse several National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee (NSTAC) recommendations to improve public and private sector communications to better thwart cyber-attacks.
