Presenter: Former Secretary of Defense Leon E. Panetta
http://www.pentagonchannel.mil/Video.aspx?videoid=158228#
October 11, 2012
Remarks by Former Secretary Panetta on Cybersecurity to the Business Executives for National Security, New York City
Thank you. Thank you very much.
I lived with Chuck Schumer and a group of other members of Congress in what was well known as Animal House in Washington. And you can't live with Schumer and not develop an appreciation for New York City.
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I also served on the Board of the New York Stock Exchange for six years. And I was on the board when 9/11 took place and I want you to know how much at that time I appreciated the great courage of the people of New York in the face of that attack. And I remembered that courage when I had a chance to lead the operation that went after Bin Laden.
We sent a very clear message to the world. We sent a very clear message to terrorists that in fact, don't ever attack this country because you will not get away with it.
(Applause.)
I've long appreciated, from my own experience, New York's role as the center of gravity for our nation's economy. This is where it's at. And for that reason, it's an honor to be able to speak before this kind of distinguished audience of business leaders and innovators because you understand what a strong national defense is all about and you understand that a strong national defense and a strong economy go hand in hand.
With that in mind, tonight I'd like to discuss with you an issue that I think is at the very nexus of business and national security: the threats facing the United States in cyberspace and the role that the Defense Department must play in defending this country from those kinds of threats.
We're on an aircraft carrier, a famous and great aircraft carrier and it's a fitting and appropriate venue to have this discussion. This ship and the technology that's on display at this museum, attests to one of the central achievements of the United States in the 20th century, our ability to project power and strength across the land, across the high seas, across the skies and across outer space.
We secured those domains. Securing them helped ensure that they were used to advance peace and prosperity and were not used to promote war and aggression.
It is with that same goal in mind, today we have to address a new domain that we must secure to have peace and prosperity in the world of tomorrow.
Cyberspace has fundamentally transformed the global economy. It's transformed our way of life, providing two billion people across the world with instant access to information to communication, to economic opportunities.
Cyberspace is the new frontier, full of possibilities to advance security and prosperity in the 21st century. And yet, with these possibilities, also come new perils and new dangers.
The Internet is open. It's highly accessible, as it should be. But that also presents a new terrain for warfare. It is a battlefield of the future where adversaries can seek to do harm to our country, to our economy, and to our citizens.
I know that when people think of cybersecurity today, they worry about hackers and criminals who prowl the Internet, steal people's identities, steal sensitive business information, steal even national security secrets. Those threats are real and they exist today.
But the even greater danger -- the greater danger facing us in cyberspace goes beyond crime and it goes beyond harassment. A cyber attack perpetrated by nation states are violent extremists groups could be as destructive as the terrorist attack on 9/11. Such a destructive cyber-terrorist attack could virtually paralyze the nation.
Let me give you some examples of the kinds of attacks that we have already experienced.
In recent weeks, as many of you know, some large U.S. financial institutions were hit by so-called Distributed Denial of Service attacks. These attacks delayed or disrupted services on customer websites. While this kind of tactic isn't new, the scale and speed with which it happened was unprecedented.
But even more alarming is an attack that happened two months ago when a very sophisticated virus called Shamoon infected computers in the Saudi Arabian State Oil Company Aramco. Shamoon included a routine called a ‘wiper’, coded to self-execute. This routine replaced crucial systems files with an image of a burning U.S. flag. But it also put additional garbage data that overwrote all the real data on the machine. More than 30,000 computers that it infected were rendered useless and had to be replaced. It virtually destroyed 30,000 computers.
Then just days after this incident, there was a similar attack on RasGas of Qatar, a major energy company in the region. All told, the Shamoon virus was probably the most destructive attack that the private sector has seen to date.
Imagine the impact an attack like that would have on your company or your business.
These attacks mark a significant escalation of the cyber threat and they have renewed concerns about still more destructive scenarios that could unfold.
For example, we know that foreign cyber actors are probing America's critical infrastructure networks. They are targeting the computer control systems that operate chemical, electricity and water plants and those that guide transportation throughout this country.
We know of specific instances where intruders have successfully gained access to these control systems.
We also know that they are seeking to create advanced tools to attack these systems and cause panic and destruction and even the loss of life.
Let me explain how this could unfold. An aggressor nation or extremist group could use these kinds of cyber tools to gain control of critical switches. They could, for example, derail passenger trains or even more dangerous, derail trains loaded with lethal chemicals.
They could contaminate the water supply in major cities or shutdown the power grid across large parts of the country.
The most destructive scenarios involve cyber actors launching several attacks on our critical infrastructure at one time, in combination with a physical attack on our country. Attackers could also seek to disable or degrade critical military systems and communication networks.
The collective result of these kinds of attacks could be a cyber Pearl Harbor; an attack that would cause physical destruction and the loss of life. In fact, it would paralyze and shock the nation and create a new, profound sense of vulnerability.
As director of the CIA and now Secretary of Defense, I have understood that cyber attacks are every bit as real as the more well-known threats like terrorism, nuclear weapons proliferation and the turmoil that we see in the Middle East.
And the cyber threats facing this country are growing. With dramatic advances, this is an area of dramatic developments in cyber technology. With that happening, potential aggressors are exploiting vulnerabilities in our security. But the good news is this, we are aware of this potential. Our eyes are wide open to these kinds of threats and we are a nation that, thank God, is on the cutting edge of this new technology. We are the best and we have to stay there.
The Department of Defense, in large part through the capabilities of the National Security Agency, NSA, has develop the world's most sophisticated system to detect cyber intruders and attackers.
We are acting aggressively to get ahead of this problem, putting in place measures to stop cyber attacks dead in their tracks. We are doing this as part of a broad whole of government effort to confront cyber threats.
The Department of Homeland Security has the lead for domestic cybersecurity, the FBI also has a key part to play and investigating and preventing cyber-attacks. And our intelligence agencies, of course, are focused on this potential threat as well.
The State Department is trying to forge international consensus on the roles and responsibilities of nations to help secure cyberspace.
The Department of Defense also has a role. It is a supporting role but it is an essential role. And tonight I want to explain what that means. But first let me make clear what it does not mean.
It does not mean that the Department of Defense will monitor citizens’ personal computers. We're not interested in personal communication or in e-mails or in providing the day to day security of private and commercial networks. That is not our goal. That is not our job. That is not our mission.
Our mission is to defend the nation. We defend. We deter, and if called upon, we take decisive action to protect our citizens. In the past, we have done so thorough operations on land and at sea, in the skies and in space. In this century, the United States military must help defend the nation in cyberspace as well.
If a foreign adversary attacked U.S. soil, the American people have every right to expect their national defense forces to respond. If a crippling cyber attack were launched against our nation, the American people must be protected. And if the Commander in Chief orders a response, the Defense Department must be ready to obey that order and to act.
To ensure that we fulfill our role to defend the nation in cyberspace, the department is focusing on three main tracks.
One, developing new capabilities.
Two, putting in place the policies and organizations we need to execute our mission.
And three, building much more effective cooperation with industry and with our international partners.
Let me briefly talk about each of these.
First, developing new capabilities. DoD is investing more than $3 billion annually in cybersecurity because we have to retain that cutting edge capability in the field.
Following our new defense strategy, the department is continuing to increase key investments in cybersecurity even in an era of fiscal restraint.
Our most important investment is in skilled cyber warriors needed to conduct operations in cyberspace.
Just as DoD developed the world's finest counterterrorism force over the past decade, we need to build and maintain the finest cyber force and operations. We're recruiting, we're training, we're retaining the best and the brightest in order to stay ahead of other nations.
It's no secret that Russia and China have advanced cyber capabilities. Iran has also undertaken a concerted effort to use cyberspace to its advantage.
Moreover, DoD is already in an intense daily struggle against thousands of cyber actors who probe the Defense Department's networks, millions of time a day. Throughout the innovative efforts of our cyber operators, we've been trying to enhance the department's cyber-defense programs.
These systems rely on sensors; they rely on software to hunt down the malicious code before it harms our systems. We actively share our own experience defending our systems with those running the nation's critical private sector networks.
In addition to defending the department's networks, we also help deter attacks. Our cyber adversaries will be far less likely to hit us if they know that we will be able to link to the attack or that their effort will fail against our strong defenses.
The department has made significant advances in solving a problem that makes deterring cyber adversaries more complex: the difficulty of identifying the origins of that attack.
Over the last two years, DoD has made significant investments in forensics to address this problem of attribution and we're seeing the returns on that investment.
Potential aggressors should be aware that the United States has the capacity to locate them and to hold them accountable for their actions that may try to harm America.
But we won't succeed in preventing a cyber attack through improved defenses alone. If we detect an imminent threat of attack that will cause significant, physical destruction in the United States or kill American citizens, we need to have the option to take action against those who would attack us to defend this nation when directed by the president.
For these kinds of scenarios, the department has developed that capability to conduct effective operations to counter threats to our national interests in cyberspace.
Let me clear that we will only do so to defend our nation, to defend our interests, to defend our allies and we will only do so in a manner that is consistent with the policy principles and legal frameworks that the department follows for other domains including the law of armed conflict.
Which brings me to the second area of focus, policies and organization. Responding to the cyber threat requires the right policies and organizations across the federal government.
For the past year, the Department of Defense has been working very closely with other agencies to understand where are the lines of responsibility when it comes to cyber defense. Where do we draw those lines? And how do those responsibilities get executed?
As part of that effort, the department is now finalizing the most comprehensive change to our rules of engagement in cyberspace in seven years. The new rules will make clear that the department has a responsibility, not only to defend DoD's networks, but also to be prepared to defend the nation and our national interests against an attack in or through cyberspace.
These new rules make the department more agile and provide us with the ability to confront major threats quickly.
To execute these responsibilities, we must have strong organization structures in place.
Three years ago, the department took a major step forward by establishing the United States Cyber Command. Under the leadership of General Keith Alexander, a four-star officer who also serves as the director of the National Security Agency.
Cyber Command has matured into what I believe is a world-class organization.
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