Proceedings magazine is a communication tool for the Coast Guard's Marine Safety & Security Council. Each quarterly magazine focuses on a specific theme of interest to the marine industry.
Issue link: https://uscgproceedings.epubxp.com/i/436751
55 Winter 2014 – 2015 Proceedings www.uscg.mil/proceedings Cyber crime is multifaceted and multi-jurisdictional, and effectively addressing this threat requires a new perspec- tive on innovation and collaboration. Because of computer technology's constantly evolving nature and the fact that its misuse affects national security and all sectors of our economy and government, the FBI is evolving its tactics to include a feet of fully engaged partners and deploying a host of learning programs and support capabilities to enable its cyber teams. The FBI is dedicated to securing U.S. critical infrastructure from cyber threats in partnership with other government agencies and the private sector. FBI Director James Comey said, "The diverse threats we face are increasingly cyber- based. Much of America's most sensitive data is stored on computers. We are losing data, money, and ideas through cyber intrusions. That is why we anticipate that in the future, resources devoted to cyber-based threats will equal or even eclipse the resources devoted to non-cyber-based terrorist threats." Navigating the New Threat Horizon Cyber threat actors pose the potential to disrupt critical infrastructure sectors, including transportation, under which maritime resides. To combat this array of new threats, we must frst identify and try to understand them. Our focus has revealed that cyber criminal groups com- monly use computer intrusions to capture user names and passwords and extract companies' assets through illicit wire transfers. Further, nation-states are more concerned with using cyber tools for remote espionage, often siphon- ing documents from U.S. networks to overseas intelligence agencies. Moreover, of growing concern, cyber terrorists continually search for new and accessible methods to cause physical destruction from remote locations using computers. Hacktivists (users who hack or break into a computer system for a politically or socially motivated purpose), while typi- cally considered less worrisome, can still cause tremendous damage, as they deface and use denial of service attacks to disrupt government and business websites. While the FBI's assessment of cyber threats to the maritime realm remains low, each type of cyber threat actor has the potential to pose a considerable threat to the maritime sector. For example, the maritime sector uses numerous industrial control systems to manage its port and shipping operations, and as these systems become increasingly networked and automated, the number of points cyber actors may exploit to disrupt the maritime sector will also increase. The FBI con- tinues to monitor these cyber threat actors and their activity in the maritime sector. Information Sharing and Intelligence Countering the Maritime Cyber Threat The FBI's expanding partnerships and programs. by suPeRvisORy sPeCial aGenT RiChaRD kOlkO FBI Cyber Division