U.S. Said To Be Eying Cybersecurity Ambassador Role

Goal is to have U.N. representative for cybersecurity policies, says Wall Street Journal

Computerworld - The U.S. is weighing the creation of an ambassador-level position for negotiating cybersecurity matters at the United Nations and for ensuring the country has a consistent international policy on the issue, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Both the U.S. State Department and Congress are considering the creation of such a role following the recent attacks on Google and numerous other high-tech companies, the Journal said, citing several unnamed sources. The proposals include a plan to develop policies tying foreign aid to a country's willingness and ability to fight cybercrime originating from within its borders...

Cyberattacks An 'Existential Threat' To U.S., FBI Says

FBI official warns about increasing cyber-sophistication of rogue states, criminals

Computerworld - WASHINGTON - A top FBI official warned today that many cyber-adversaries

of the U.S. have the ability to access virtually any computer system, posing a risk that's so great it could "challenge our country's very existence."

Steven Chabinsky, deputy assistant director of the FBI's cyber division, delivered a strong and urgent warning about the threat of cyberattacks during a presentation Tuesday at the FOSE government IT trade show here. Chabinsky also offered recommendations for countering the threat, including rules that would restrict the ability of some systems to interoperate with more vulnerable ones...

D.C. Home To Most Cyber Criminals

WASHINGTON - Here's a factoid you might not know -- D.C. has the most cyber-criminals per capita: 116 for every 100,000 people.

The Internet Crime Complaint Center's 2009 Internet Crime Report ranks Maryland 19th (29.72 perpetrators per 100,000) and Virginia 28th (24.12 perpetrators per 100,000).

IC3, a joint effort of the National White Collar Crime Center and FBI, says Nevada and Washington hold the No. 2 and No. 3 spots.

Cyber-crimes are so common victims often neglect to report them. But the number of complaints to IC3 jumped more than 22 percent last year to 336,655. The amount of money victims lost more than doubled to nearly $560,000 from $265,000 in 2008...