NSA: Cybercrime is 'the greatest transfer of wealth in history'

Summary: The director of the National Security Agency (NSA) has called cybercrime "the greatest transfer of wealth in history." As such, he urged politicians and the American population in general to support cybersecurity legislation being pushed through Congress.

At an American Enterprise Institute (AEI) event on Monday called "Cybersecurity and American power," U.S. Army Gen. Keith B. Alexander called cybercrime "the greatest transfer of wealth in history." The director of the National Security Agency (NSA) and chief at the Central Security Service (CSS) reemphasized an immense problem the U.S. is facing: intellectual property loss via cyber espionage.

I've embedded the full video above. Below are some choice excerpts I found worth underlining.

"In fact, in my opinion, it's the greatest transfer of wealth in history," Alexander said in a statement. "Symantec placed the cost of IP theft to the United States companies in $250 billion a year, global cybercrime at $114 billion annually ($388 billion when you factor in downtime), and McAfee estimates that $1 trillion was spent globally under remediation. And that's our future disappearing in front of us. So, let me put this in context, if I could. We have this tremendous opportunity with the devices that we use. We're going mobile, but they're not secure. Tremendous vulnerabilities. Our companies use these, our kids use these, we use these devices, and they're not secure."

In addition, Alexander insisted that the lack of cybersecurity legislation can no longer continue. He urged politicians to stop delaying the approval of new cybersecurity laws, various proposals for which are currently making their way through Congress.

[link to www.zdnet.com]