"DHS Secretary Says US Faces a New Kind of Warfare"

Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas recently stated that national security and homeland security are now more interconnected than ever before, largely driven by the fact that U.S. adversaries can execute attacks “with a keystroke.”  Mayorkas said that global interconnectedness and the willingness of nations to unleash digital attacks that have international ramifications has brought the national security threat “directly to our communities.”  During his speech, Mayrokas pointed to several well-known cyberattacks that had global reach, such as the NotPetya attack in 2017 and the Russian cyberattack against the U.S. satellite company Viasat at the start of the Ukraine war, saying that “our homeland security has converged with our national security.”  Mayrokas noted that ubiquitous cutting-edge technologies, economic and political instability, and our globalized economy have erased borders and increasingly bring threats and challenges directly into our communities.  His remarks come amid growing reports of nation-state hackers hitting federal and private organizations.  Mayorkas said that the U.S. faces “a new kind of warfare.”  He noted that with a keystroke, our adversaries can disrupt power or water to a small city, mine troves of American’s personal data, or steal intellectual property.  Mayorkas pointed to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s Joint Cyber Defense Collaborative as at the “heart” of trying to solve the national and international threats.  Mayorkas also pointed to the “Shield’s Up” campaign and Cyber Safety Review Board as other examples.

CyberScoop reports: "DHS Secretary Says US Faces a New Kind of Warfare"