With the rising number of cyberattacks on U.S. infrastructure and the increasing cyber capabilities of foreign adversaries, it has become evident that the United States is in a “cyber war,” according to a top Transportation Security Administration (TSA) official.
Yemi Oshinnaiye, chief information officer (CIO) at the TSA, discussed how the U.S. is “definitely in a cyber war” during the Cybersecurity Summit hosted by ACT-IAC on Oct. 4.
“Obviously, there’s not somebody telling the public, but we’re definitely in a cyber war. So, there are people trying to do things to us from different places that we need to stay awake at all times for,” said Oshinnaiye.
During the summit, Oshinnaiye alluded to the importance of staying diligent against possible threats and the need for the United States to create a future workforce to defend against foreign cyber threats.
“There are a lot of things that we have to take very, very seriously. We are not sufficiently equipped to battle yet,” said Oshinnaiye.
Although the United States still has many things to work on when it comes to protecting U.S. critical infrastructure, Oshinnaiye offered a sign of hope that the nation will be able to overcome these obstacles.
“We can recruit more cyber challenge students, and we can educate ourselves. We can build environments where we can talk openly and share,” said Oshinnaiye.
“We owe it to ourselves to use these forums, to use these venues to be better at what we do – so we’re better off as a country,” said Oshinnaiye.
The importance of cyberwarfare has become an increasing issue in the United States with the recent Ukraine conflict, as well as an increase in cyberattacks that have driven government agencies like the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) to create the Shields Up campaign to increase cyber awareness across the nation.
