WASHINGTON
– The head of the NSA issued a blunt
warning Thursday to lawmakers: China can shut down the United States.
The grim
forecast came from Admiral Michael Rogers, the director of the National
Security Agency and commander of the U.S .Cyber Command.
Rogers said
he believed China along with “one or two” other countries had the capability to
successfully launch a cyber-attack that could shut down the electric grid in
parts of the United States.
Rogers
reiterated that if the U.S. remains on the defensive, it would be a “losing
strategy.”
Speaking to
the House Intelligence Committee, the NSA director said the cyber threat was
“so real,” and that agreeing to an international code, a sort of “laws of law”
in the cyber realm is urgent.
The
possibility of such cyberattacks by U.S. adversaries has been widely known, but
never confirmed publicly by the nation's top cyber official.
At a House
hearing, Rogers says U.S. adversaries are performing electronic
"reconnaissance," on a regular basis so that they can be in a
position to attack the industrial control systems that run everything from
chemical facilities to water treatment plants.
Outside
experts say the U.S. Cyber Command also has that capability, which in theory
should amount to mutual deterrence.
Fox News'
Catherine Herridge and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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