Cyber attacks are beginning to eclipseterrorism like a threat to the country, tell top officials from theFederal Bureau of Investigation, speaking earlier an audience ofsecurity professionals here at the GovSec Conference today.


"You will watch a greaterpreponderance of cyber-related offenses, having cyber-terrorism,"predicted Ralph Boelter, assistant director of the counter-terrorismdivision at the FBI. There is has not until been a majorcyber-terrorism attack in this country, he said, adding, "Butthat is not to say we are not preparing for it."


Boelter said his division is workingmore closely these days on the FBI's cyber division. Gordon Snow,assistant director of the FBI's cyber division, who as well spoke atthe GovSec Conference, said intrusions into computer systems can comefrom foreign-intelligence services, terrorists and other kinds of"bad actors," such as hactivists. The FBI completelyrequires to watch more targeting of smartphonesand tablets, heremarked.


Although the FBI has watched a stringof accomplishments in the past few years in bringing perpetrators ofattacks to justice, frequent on the help of its counterparts in lawenforcement abroad, Snow said much more requires to be done.


While large botnets allow for automateddenial-of-service attacks, for example, in this kind of cybercrime"there is someone behind a keyboard tapping away at the keys,"he noted. The focus requires to be on apprehending that person behindthe technologies they use, he said.


When asked about Chinesecyber-espionage or how considerable the FBI worked today on itslaw-enforcement counterparts in China, Snow admitted things could bebetter. "We are cooperating with the Chinese in many facets oflaw enforcement," said Snow, noting one area was in theintellectual property realm. "We wish that will ameliorate inthe cyber realm."


When inquired around cloud computingand security, Snow showed bookings, although cloud computing gives amuch more in terms of quick computing and cost effectiveness, hesaid, as an outsourcing arrangement around data, it takes risks. "Thecloud provider may have no security at everything," he said,adding he wishes the industry for cloud computing "tips in thedirection of strong security."