DNI Dennis Blair: U.S. critical infrastructure severely threatened

Published 4 February 2010

Blair: “The United States confronts a dangerous combination of known and unknown vulnerabilities, strong and rapidly expanding adversary capabilities, and a lack of comprehensive threat awareness”

On Tuesday, in his testimony on the Annual Threat Assessment of the U.S. Intelligence Community before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Dennis Blair discussed the issue of threats from cyberspace in the beginning of his testimony. Blair said that neither the public or private sector can protect our critical infrastructure alone.

“I am here today to stress that, acting independently, neither the U.S. Government nor the private sector can fully control or protect the country’s information infrastructure,” Blair said. “Yet, with increased national attention and investment in cyber security initiatives, I am confident the United States can implement measures to mitigate this negative situation.”

Michael Cheek writes that Blair also highlighted the variety and disparate nature of the threats facing the United States. “The United States confronts a dangerous combination of known and unknown vulnerabilities, strong and rapidly expanding adversary capabilities, and a lack of comprehensive threat awareness,” he said.

He also questioned the viability of resiliency, or operating while under attack. Blair said that the United States “cannot be certain that our cyberspace infrastructure will remain available and reliable during a time of crisis.”

Blair announced the creation of an intelligence team to develop and implement a defensive cyber strategy that will be “effective and respectful of American freedoms and values.”

Finally, Blair called for Congress to provide full funding for the cyber security initiatives, such as CNCI, in order to ensure that the United States will be able to effectively combat cyberattacks.