SAN FRANCISCO – San Francisco is hosting the RSA conference, a major cybersecurity conference. The conference is drawing the focus of federal officials and law enforcement.
Secretary Noem speaks
At the annual cybersecurity conference’s second day in San Francisco, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem spoke to attendees, saying the nation faces a growing threat from cyberattacks.
“It’s not just malware and ransomware that’s being utilized,” Secretary Noem said. “Now they’re showing that they can hack into our critical infrastructure and control them and shut them down in ways that would cripple this country.”
The secretary said the threat landscape is evolving faster than the federal government can adapt. She wants to partner with private industry to get the best and brightest to help defend the homeland. “Because they know where the threats are,” said Secretary Noem. “They know what they are doing when they see a new pattern develop, a new software program, or something that was specifically designed to infiltrate our nation’s security, they have to feel like they have the ability to communicate that with us.”
Cost of cybercrime
The FBI said cybercrime resulted in more than $16 billion being stolen last year.
The agency said recent data show that seniors are a fast-growing target by cyber criminals.
The FBI urges victims to come forward, so law enforcement can investigate.
“It’s something we see, malicious actors targeting the elderly population,” said Sanjay Virmani, FBI Special Agent in Charge San Francisco. “Elder fraud, you know, really preying on their trust at times with devastating consequences.”
What they’re saying:
Conference attendee Joshua Dean said he’s here to make sure he can protect the company he works for.
“People get scammed every single day, and in the business world, that’s how you lose your reputation, your branding, your contracts, your ability to even bid on contracts,” said Dean.
Security experts said coming to the conference allows them to meet with others and innovate new solutions to an evolving threat.
“Yeah, I think it’s a really good platform for sharing best practices,” said Ashley Roof from Operant AI. “Priyanka and I are actually co-founders of a cybersecurity company that’s based in San Francisco. So, for us, it’s also a good opportunity to meet with customers.”
Cybersecurity experts say they’re tracking the emerging threats posed by artificial intelligence.
“You could craft really personalized messages that sound like the CEO or CTO (Chief Technology Officer) of a company asking an employee to do something,” said Priyanka Tembey from Operant AI. “We are also seeing this on the voice and even video side of things.
The conference runs through Thursday.
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