The deputy director of the US National Security Agency (NSA), Richard Ledgett, has warned of the increasing danger of destructive cyber attacks by states. He told the BBC: “If you are connected to the internet, you are vulnerable to determined nation-state attackers.” He said nations would need to identify red lines that should not be crossed. He also said agency targets, numbered in “the high hundreds”, had discussed leaks by contractor Edward Snowden, with some changing their behaviour. Richard Ledgett’s office on the eighth floor of NSA headquarters at Fort Meade is filled with exhibits on the history of code-making and breaking, ranging from American Civil War systems through a German Enigma machine adapted for use with Japan. There is even an encryption device recovered from the wreckage of the Challenger Space Shuttle. But it is modern challenges in cyberspace which are now at the heart of the NSA’s dual mission of protecting sensitive government communications and collecting intelligence on America’s adversaries.
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ORIGINAL SOURCE: Gordon Corera, BBC
