According to Director of National Intelligence Daniel Coats, smart devices are more than an attractive target for hackers for profit — they could also be the launching ground for attacks on U.S. intelligence efforts in the future.
Speaking in an open hearing with the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI) Coats warned about the easily overlooked dangers that bad smart device security brings with it — as well as ongoing concern for Russia’s very advanced cybercrime talents.
Coats further noted that Vladimir Putin’s Kremlin has taken a much more aggressive “cyber posture,” which “was evident in Russia’s efforts to influence the 2016 US election.”
Apart from political meddling, Coats’ report also says that Russian actors have conducted attacks on critical infrastructure networks, even going so far as to pretend to be third parties hiding behind false online personas.
“Russia is a full-scope cyber actor that will remain a major threat to U.S. Government, military, diplomatic, commercial, and critical infrastructure,” says Coats in the written version of his statement. He further noted that China, Iran and North Korea, as well as terrorists and criminals, are also threats.
Smart devices present a strong risk, according to Coats — they are radically upping the number of digital touch points that can be weaponized by cybercriminals.
“In the future,” Coats says in his report, “state and non-state actors will likely use IoT devices to support intelligence operations or domestic security or to access or attack targeted computer networks.”
Vice-chair of the Senate committee Mark Warner noted that former FBI Director Comey was not in attendance.
“It is impossible to ignore that one of the leaders of the intelligence community is not with us here today,” Warner noted in his remarks.
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