Cybertheft could destroy the US economy | #cyberwar #infosec #nationalsecurity

In August 2011, the cybersecurity firm McAfee released an eye-opening report (PDF) detailing its investigation into a multi-year, most likely state-sponsored cyberattack that includes intrusions into the U.S. federal government and defense contractors, resulting in the theft of massive stores of intellectual property.

The report's author and McAfee's vice president of threat research, Dmitri Alperovitch, describes these attacks, known as Operation Shady RAT, as a profound threat, indicative of a larger trend that may result in "the complete destruction" of the U.S. economy. Rather than focus on the potential for a theoretical "cyber Pearl Harbor," he says that U.S. policymakers should use all of the nation's power to stem the steady theft of national secrets.

Read full article: http://bit.ly/qe9te0