You're watching...
Chris Stirewalt, Catherine Herridge and Susan Ferrechio discuss the struggle in congress regarding cybersecurity.
Also in this playlist...
Auto-advance: ON
Auto-advance
This transcript is automatically generated
And that.
If you Internet that if people surfing upon you going about their business buying dog toys doing whatever it is that you do out there and those things though could be.
A gateway for not just hackers in China and not just cyber espionage and Russia but also quite possibly.
Islamist radicals who are looking for ways to cyber attack this country and this is power play.
And there has been -- and largely untold story going on here in Washington for several months.
Everybody agrees.
In both parties and across the ideological spectrum that the country is far too vulnerable as more and more of our assets are online.
-- vulnerable to cyber attack.
But there's a serious discussion between libertarian minded folks.
And more.
Governments friendly kind of folks about what's the right way to solve it in this impasse as is getting us nowhere fast.
And that's why he will be very interested to hear.
I would Catherine Herridge has to say as you always should -- if you.
But Susan and Susan -- will help us -- out the political side of this but -- you have a very interesting story today.
That I did not expect to say about how the bad he's the radical islamists.
Are -- wanna get in on the cyber war to.
Well this begin with a series of a phone call come from senators Lieberman and Collins.
And they had this new web video -- to them by the secretary of Homeland Security.
And the web video calls for an electronic to hide or cyber attacks against the United States and I can't just quote.
The from the tape -- want it reaching here because I think it is it's crystal clear it's not.
If you can't -- that you are directed to it says we advised Muslims with expertise in this -- to target the web site.
And information systems of big companies and government agencies.
Of the countries that attack Muslims.
And within the intelligence community there's been this broad discussion.
Of the what's been seen as the impending threat of cyber attacks on the terrorist groups but this is a very specific call to action.
That is on the web and at what is I think even more disturbing -- the call to action.
Is the fact that it does appear to be a delay in -- -- time it went up on the web.
And -- secretary Napolitano yeah and the committee was notified could be as much.
-- ten months and that it was up there and what we've seen in this yearlong period is a real spike in the number of cyber attacks -- senator Collins it to me.
It would be -- I need to think that there is not a connection between this very specific call on this Heidi forms to attacked the United States in this way.
And the fact that we've seen this fivefold increase in some in some areas.
Any end in fact it should it should I shouldn't have been surprised.
I should have been -- -- surprise and Ed Rendell was about Barack Obama's cats.
Because it should be perfect for them.
It's decentralized correct it's functions anonymously over the Internet.
It taps into the technological expertise of a few people a few people can have great influence correct so is it should have everything that they want.
It's it's -- just nothing is like the next the next step and what I call the digital Jihad.
And this allows people to never leave the United States they don't have to travel overseas to get -- -- -- actually leverage our own technology.
Against us with dramatic effect.
And Susan as well as I mentioned earlier -- well well well established.
That hostile nations or.
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- But why don't we have legislation.
-- you -- the last two big I'm piracy bills.
Go by acronyms and so PA TI TA -- up high voter.
Those -- -- be pulled from -- from from consideration because so many people got upset about it -- back there was a big Wikipedia blackout.
Everybody is sort of big backlash against the government sticking its hands into online regulation.
There's a real fear about that -- so even though you have I think a growing number of people in congress were beginning and I understand that they're going to have to figure out a way to move legislation.
Despite this is -- gonna have to try to tinker with is that all sides are happy.
They're not that hard -- -- cases that the house has passed an online cyber security guys know -- and that's now moved over to the senate.
So -- run into the same roadblocks everywhere they're gonna have to change your way today change -- just to make everybody happy that I have crises and being invaded at the end and that's not being over regulated by the government.
And then not to work it out of the house this could be -- -- address on.
Especially in election year and everybody's worried about -- at their jobs so -- -- exactly what happened is telling us this guy is scary sounds like nothing right all right.
And -- the question for you is this so Lieberman and Collins had been among the TrailBlazer they've they've been out in front on this.
And basically saying something has -- -- way too vulnerable here.
But for civil civil libertarians.
In the Republican and Democratic Party.
They are very leery about the -- one term that you hear a lot that comes at yours kill switch to give the federal government -- -- to turn off the Internet because one of the things that she would do if you could design a perfect system.
Would be to have a kill switch so that if you were getting infected if you were getting attacked.
You can turn the whole thing off but although that's also have to do they have in China which we don't it's just cool how does this get resolved.
Well I think.
Fundamentally.
-- two schools of thought there -- one school which says it's gonna take a massive event to jump start this time.
Yes it's like my parents.
Good minutes yet rather seriously because when you look at this web video what they see in the video is -- the United States is vulnerable to cyber attacks in the same way.
That our airline security system.
Was vulnerable to the hijackers and their box -- so they see it.
This gaping vulnerability so number one is it gonna take a major event.
For people to decide that got to push something through and then number two and to me this seems to be where the real roadblock is.
Is that there's this fear among the private sector.
That if they have to share this information with the government price there's agrees that this will somehow be.
Share it with their competitors and this would give them a competitive.
Disadvantage.
And what you're hearing -- increasingly from the administration is that.
When it comes to the critical infrastructure so that's the power grid.
Or whether it's dance water supply that there's almost a lower threshold in terms of how the information has speech to pass this year.
And this of course -- -- -- and Susan mentioned so and -- I whatever not not the not the royal about the royals got.
These things -- running concurrently with this course should be huge fight over net neutrality.
Which is from the FCC where they want to regulate information or data flow on the Internet you also have an effort at the UN.
To create a global.
Policemen for the Internet and and what is interesting of course but the Internet and it's great about the Internet.
And also makes him an Internet very difficult.
Is that didn't libertarians and and civil libertarians flocked to the Internet whether it's in foreign countries -- -- repression.
Or here just because it's the kind of space -- the free flowing wild west -- that attracts those kind of people you have this very hard opposition.
Is this a -- -- Problem well it's becoming more self well not only because look at -- missing people are realizing more that.
They wanna do something before there's an embarrassment you know doesn't interest by the White House think she didn't get embarrassed by this whole thing I know that threatened to -- the latest bill that's moving through the senate.
But it's also in it will benefit them to put something in place if something big happens people are putting the finger at Obama saying why did you do anything to sing with congress it -- Make sure that there isn't you know some kind of 9/11 similar attacks pages and a on the Internet -- I -- I haven't finished I -- Jim monsters and I get Katherine -- scribbling says this.
That story is remarkable Catherine so kudos to do and what as a reporter what do you think should be congress is logical first step but she's not allowed to tell you what she thinks congress ought to do.
But what do you think -- will likely -- I think.
-- has to be.
A pretty open policy debate behind.
-- -- gonna draw the line with security generally -- what I mean by that is that I think there has to be debated says.
That the government's not gonna be able to protect everything all the time and there's going to be a certain level of disruption or attack or loss of life.
That is going to be part and parcel and not completely altering.
The way we live -- completely.
Throwing the constitution and our rates at the window just to have 100%.
Security so I feel like that.
Debate hasn't really happened and when you look at the Internet what I've seen in my reporting is the incident we saw an Iran with its nuclear.
System this -- that very sexist when there's been called to -- I don't wanna get too crazy scientific here.
There's something called -- the du -- virus which is like a reconnaissance virus it goes out in advance he gathers information.
And then stocks -- uses that information to that launched the attack.
I mean I make you cool is active again and and the reason I mentioned I.
Turning and I may have to do just.
But the -- it's not real quick is that.
Just because we may be confident that that technology was successful against Iran does not mean that it cannot ultimately be used against us in the future because the genie is an effect out of the -- Haven't even if you never cheer us we're always happy to see you always know where we're always we're Roy's left slightly terrified but we're always glad that it -- -- -- when they see that's right.
Ledger played out okay well we thank you very much imminent and that's okay.
