Jay Rockefeller: “when most Americans think of cyber security, they conjure up an image of somebody having a credit card number stolen…”

“when most Americans think of cyber security, they conjure up an image of somebody having a credit card number stolen, for example, or a prankster using their Twitter account or somebody downloading a movie without paying for it. And although that is all true and important, it is not dangerous. The internet is central to our lives, our economy, and our society. Any insecurity is a worry. I will expand. We are here today because the experts are warning us that we are on the brink of something much worse, something that could bring down our economy, rip open our national security or even take lives. The prospect of mass casualty is what has propelled us to make cyber security a top priority for this year, to make it an issue that transcends political parties or ideology. Consider the warning signs: Hackers now seem to be able to routinely crack the codes of our government agencies, including the most sensitive ones. They do so routinely with our Fortune 500 companies, and then everything in between. ADM Mike Mullen, former Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman, said that a cyber security threat is the only other threat that is on the same level as Russia's stockpile of nuclear weapons--loose nukes, if you will. FBI Director Robert Mueller testified to Congress very recently that the cyber threat will soon overcome terrorism as the top national security focus of the FBI. Think about that--cyber threats will be as dangerous as terrorism.…”