US spy chief James Clapper highlights cyber threats

US intelligence companies have positioned cyber assaults from overseas governments and criminals on the high of their record of threats to the nation.

Online assaults would more and more undermine US financial competitiveness and nationwide safety, mentioned Director of National Intelligence James Clapper.

P report issued by his workplace mentioned Russia's navy was establishing a cyber command to hold out assaults.

The report additionally describes China, Iran and North Korea as main threats.

In testimony to a congressional committee on Thursday, Mr Clapper stated he not believed the US confronted "cyber Armageddon".

The concept that main infrastructure resembling monetary networks or energy grids might be disabled by hackers now regarded much less possible, he mentioned.

However he warned: "We foresee an ongoing sequence of low-to-reasonable stage cyber assaults from quite a lot of sources over time, which is able to impose cumulative prices on US financial competitiveness and nationwide safety."

Mr Clapper highlighted the case of Russia, which he stated posed the best a cyber threat to US pursuits. He mentioned that menace from the Russian authorities was "extra extreme" than beforehand realised.

He additionally mentioned revenue-minded criminals and ideologically pushed hackers have been additionally more and more lively.

Over the previous yr there have been a collection of excessive-profile cyber assaults towards US targets.

North Korea was accused of being behind the theft of an enormous knowledge cache from Sony Pictures in November.

Mr Clapper additionally talked about the instance of an alleged Iranian assault on the Las Vegas Sands Casino Corporation final yr.

Meanwhile in January the Twitter and YouTube accounts of the US navy command had been hacked by a bunch claiming to again Islamic State (IS).

During the listening to, Mr Clapper acknowledged that the US had its personal "offensive capabilities".

In 2010 Iran skilled a cyber assault on its nuclear program. Tehran accused Israel and the US of planting malware.