As if anyone in the US needed further confirmation, hackers can indeed harm the economy quite a bit. A new report by the Department of Treasury goes to show how the cybercrime landscape continues to evolve and pose new threats. The government is concerned over the threats posed by hackers, as they have a big bag of tricks at their disposal.
Hackers Are A Grave Threat To The US Economy
To be more precise, the US economy is facing two significant threats right now: the banks, and hackers. The first category is probably the worst, though, as they usually get paid to help economies go belly up with their mismanagement of funds. Hackers, on the other hand, try to create evolution out of the chaos that ensues after their work is done.
A press release issued by the Department of Treasury recently goes to show how cybersecurity is a top priority in the US right now. Strengthening cybersecurity defenses and making sure hackers have no chance of getting in are of the utmost importance. However, holding regular meetings may not be the best way to achieve that goal in the future.
It is not the first time voices echo the sentiment of how cyber attacks could cripple the US economy moving forward. Enhancing information sharing is still touted as one of best solutions to prevent significant damage from being done. However, communication between government agencies, financial institutions, and everyone in between has been a critical issue for quite some time now.
Moreover, state-sponsored attacks are not outside of the realm of possibilities either. The Department of Defense has been preparing for such attacks, albeit no detailed information was divulged during the meeting. They did mention pen-testing has been conducted by seasoned hackers to ensure the pentagon’s infrastructure is watertight.
Not too long ago, a different report showed the number of hacking attempts against the Federal Reserve in the past decade. With over 50 reported incidents between 2011 and 2015, it became pretty clear something had to be done. While officials focus on the outside threat against the US economy, they should not lose sight of the banks [unwillingly] destroying the economy from within.
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