Terrorists can use Twitter, too

Denis Blair, Director of National Intelligence (DNI), testified today to Senate Select Committee on Intelligence on the DNI’s Annual Threat Assessment.  The first item on the list shocked me: “Far-Reaching Impact of the Cyber Threat.” From the report:

The national security of the United States, our economic prosperity, and the daily functioning of our government are dependent on a dynamic public and private information infrastructure…This critical infrastructure is severely threatened.

This cyber domain is…enabling those who would steal, corrupt, harm or destroy the public and private assets vital to our national interests…

Malicious cyber activity is occurring on an unprecedented scale with extraordinary sophistication…the existing balance in network technology favors malicious actors…Sensitive information is stolen daily from both government and private sector networks…We cannot be certain that our face infrastructure will remain available and reliable during a time of crisis…

We face nation states, terrorist networks, organized criminal groups, individuals, and other cyber actors with varying combinations of access, technical sophistication and intent. Many have the capabilities to target elements of the US information infrastructure for intelligence collection, intellectual property theft, or disruption. Terrorist groups and their sympathizers have expressed interest in using cyber means to target the United States and its citizens…

Internet freedom indeed.