Obama Said to Warn of Crippling Cyber Attack Potential

[InfoSec News <alerts () infosecnews org>]

http://www.foxbusiness.com/economy-policy/2014/10/12/obama-said-to-warn-crippling-cyber-attack-potential/

By Charlie Gasparino
Charlie Breaks It
foxbusiness.com
October 12, 2014

President Barack Obama believes cyber terrorism is one of the biggest 
threats to national security and says the White House is bracing for a 
possible doomsday scenario if hackers can successfully penetrate 
government and business computer systems, the FOX Business Network has 
learned.

The president shared his thoughts on cyber terrorism last week, during a 
fundraising tour in New York City and a stop in Greenwich Conn., according 
to people who attended the events. At the same series of events, the 
president also downplayed the threat of a large Ebola outbreak in the 
United States, citing the nation’s medical infrastructure as the main 
reason the deadly virus hasn’t spread as it has in West Africa, these 
people say.

A White House spokesman did not return requests for comment.

Event attendees included a mix of wealthy Democrats with ties to New 
York’s financial businesses, and celebrities as Mark Wahlberg and Rosie 
O’Donnell.  At the fundraisers, the president laid out what one person 
with first-hand knowledge of the fundraising meetings called a “doomsday” 
scenario if hackers can successfully gain entry into government systems or 
breach security walls at major banks.

“The president is worried that cyber criminals could literally wipe out 
the identities of millions of people through some breach of government 
systems and that could lead to massive chaos,” this person said.

[...]

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