New York Times wrote an article about how attacks from foreign governments and hackers on America's computer networks pose a serious threat and how the defenses against such attacks are scarily thin. Gen. Keith Alexander, the chief of the United States Cyber Command and the director of the National Security Agency, commented on how assaults on computers that run essential infrastructure "increased 17-fold from 2009-11" He also addressed the problem of cyberespionage and the loss of industrial information. Officials say that business already lose billions of dollars every year. Even more concerning are the attacks on power plants, electric grids, refineries, transportation networks and water treatment systems. "Last year, there were at least 200 attempted or successful cyberattacks on those facilities," says the author. What is even more alarming is how thin the defenses against such attacks are. A survey of more than 9,000 executives in over 130 countries by the PricewaterhouseCoopers consulting firm found out that only 13 percent of those surveyed had sufficient defenses against cyberthreats. Because of this, president Obama and others support a bill that would set mandatory standards that would require companies to fortify their defenses against cyberattacks. Bipartisan legislation drafted by Senator Joseph Lieberman, a Connecticut independent and the chairman of the homeland security committee, and Senator Susan Collins of Maine, the ranking Republican member, was met with fierce opposition from the business community. Some politics like Mr. MacCain argue that the bill would be too costly. However some companies such as Microsoft and Symantec support the bill.
The author wrote this article to inform the dangers of cyberattacks and the actions the government is taking to guard the nation against such attacks.
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