The FBI released the below
information:
FBI Director Christopher Wray is
seen through the phone of an audience member at the Fordham
University/FBI-sponsored International Conference on Cyber Security in New York
City on July 25, 2019.
The FBI is working to address
evolving cyber threats facing the country, including foreign influence and
foreign investment, FBI Director Christopher Wray said at a cybersecurity
conference today.
“These threats strike—and they
strike hard—at our security. That means our economic security and our ability
to keep our companies safe from theft and intrusion,” Wray said. “It means our
national security ... it means our safety as everyday citizens walking the streets
and sending our kids to school.”
Wray served as the closing speaker
at the International Conference on Cyber Security in New York, co-sponsored by
the FBI and Fordham University. He was joined by Rev. Joseph McShane, president
of Fordham University, and FBI New York Special Agent in Charge Aristedes
Mahairas.
Wray described the many resources
the FBI brings to its cyber mission—from Cyber Action Teams to the 24-hour
command post known as CyWatch to the addition of cyber-focused legal attachés in FBI
offices around the world.
“Our role isn’t limited to
investigations,” Wray explained. We’re using our expertise to warn the public
and private sectors about what we’re seeing and to spotlight risks and
vulnerabilities.”
Foreign influence is one of today’s
most pressing cyber-related threats, and Wray discussed the FBI’s role in
mitigating these threats to the 2020 elections. Through its Foreign Influence Task Force,
the FBI has foreign influence-related investigations open across the country.
The Bureau’s efforts also involve building relationships with the private
sector and information sharing.
“But the foreign influence threat
isn’t just limited to election season,” Wray said. “We have to remain vigilant
all year round. We have to raise public awareness and increase our country’s
resilience in a more sustained and enduring way."
Another threat of concern to the
U.S. government is foreign investment in American companies, which can
sometimes lead to the theft of intellectual property, sensitive data, or
proprietary research. He urged U.S. companies to exercise caution in working
with companies from adversarial countries because adversaries are willing to
buy access to American proprietary information.
Additionally, Wray called on the
public and private sectors to work together to address the growing inability
for law enforcement to lawfully access encrypted data of terrorists and
criminals, sometimes referred to as “going dark.” This data may be on phones or
other devices or transmitted over encrypted apps or platforms.
While the FBI supports strong
cybersecurity, Wray said that no place should be completely off-limits to
lawful access. He called it a “fundamental public safety issue” that hampers
not only the FBI but also state and local law enforcement efforts.
Wray cited the example that nearly
two years after the shooting at a church in Sutherland
Springs, Texas, the FBI still cannot get into the shooter’s phone.
While the gunman is dead and no longer a threat, access to that information
could potentially help prevent a future attack. “If we were dealing with a
living subject—someone we were still trying to track down, who could be out
planning another attack—the situation could be even more dangerous,” said Wray.
This trend is made more complex by
the advent of virtual currency, which some criminals use to hide their
transactions.
“It cannot be a sustainable end
state for us to be creating some kind of unfettered space beyond the reach of
lawful access for terrorists, hackers, and child predators to hide,” Wray said.
“But that’s the path we’re on now if we don’t somehow come together to find a
solution.”
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