Security News > 2020 > February > CISA's Krebs: 2016 US Elections Were Cyber 'Sputnik' Moment

The 2016 U.S. president election served as a wake-up call for American lawmakers and the public of the threat that cyberattackers can pose to the very foundation of a democratic society, says Christopher Krebs, director of the U.S. Cybersecurity Infrastructure and Security Agency.

Krebs said the 2016 U.S. elections served as a "Sputnik" moment for America, referencing the launch of the Russian satellite in 1957, which alerted lawmakers and the American public to the threat posed by Moscow - namely, that it possessed a working intercontinental ballistic missile able to deliver offensive payloads across oceans.

Speaking Tuesday morning in an on-stage keynote interview conducted by Heather Dahl, executive director and CEO of the Sovrin Foundation, Krebs described how his agency has been working to improve election security in America since its founding on Nov. 16, 2018.

Although much of CISA's focus since its launch has been to prepare for the 2020 elections, Krebs said that another major online threat to the U.S. involves the seemingly nonstop increase in ransomware attacks, especially against local and state governments, as well as school districts and healthcare organizations.

"Never let a good crisis go to waste" might be an old adage, but Krebs said his agency opted to use the threat posed by Iran as a way to try to bootstrap cybersecurity practices across all U.S. organizations.

News URL

https://www.inforisktoday.com/cisas-krebs-2016-us-elections-were-cyber-sputnik-moment-a-13772