US Cyber Official Warns of ‘Inflection Point’ in Attacks From Russia and China

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW – As he scans the global threat environment, Dana Madsen believes he has identified a new “inflection point” when it comes to malicious activity in cyberspace. And Madsen is one of the CIA’s top experts when it comes to the cyber threats writ large – serving as Deputy Director of the Cyber Threat Intelligence Integration Center (CTIIC) in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI). In an interview with The Cipher Brief, Madsen noted that just a few years ago, cyber espionage was concentrated on the theft of intellectual property – a basic shift from traditional spy craft to the domain of cyberspace.

Now, Madsen says, there are a host of new threat actors, many linked to America’s adversaries on the global stage, and increasingly they are taking aim at critical infrastructure – penetrating electric grids, health care networks, water supply systems, and more – both to disrupt operations and to establish a persistent presence..