James Clapper, the Director for National Intelligence (DNI), named cyber as the greatest threat to national security starting in 2013, he said during a speech on Jan. 29.

“A lot of people find this surprising in our post-9/11 world, but in 2013, ‘cyber’ bumped ‘terrorism’ out of the top spot on our list of national threats. And cyber has led our report every year since then,” Clapper said during a speech at the U.S. Naval Academy’s Cyber Lecture Series.

Director of National Intelligence James Clapper. Photo: ODNI.
Director of National Intelligence James Clapper. Photo: ODNI.

Clapper highlighted the cyber threat does not stem from one possible massive cyber attack, but that “our primary concern is low-to-moderate-level cyber intrusions from a variety of sources which will continue and probably expand.”

The consistent low- to moderate-level intrusions impose increasing costs on American businesses, economic competitiveness, and national security, he said. The U.S.’s heavy dependence on the Internet means almost all information-communication technologies and IT networks/systems are perpetually at risk from cyber attacks.

Clapper also said these cyber attacks are increasing in scale, frequency, sophistication, and severity of impact.

“The U.S. Intelligence Community is working to help our national leaders understand that threat, so that they can take action,” he said.