AP
Clapper's testimony to the committee reflected the US Intelligence Community's Worldwide Threat Assessment for the coming year.
Based on the insights of the various branches of the US Intelligence Community (IC), Clapper provided a rundown of the major global and regional threats.
Based on his released statements, we have summarized the main global threats facing the world below:
Cyber Security
- The rise of smart devices and the Internet of Things (IoT) will lead to further opportunities for hackers to gain access to personal information. On the flip side, the IC will be able to use the IoT for "identification, surveillance, monitoring, location tracking, and targeting for recruitment."
- An increasing reliance on "Narrow AI" systems, that perform specialized tasks, can both increase efficiency but leave systems open to disruption. Overreliance on these systems, or a lack of securing them properly, could lead to "disruptive or deceptive tactics." As an example, stock market fluctuations have happened due to automated trading systems taking in false data, Clapper notes.
- Hackers and foreign military cyber actors will seek to exploit the integrity of networked and online information. This runs the gamut from modifying and transmitting false data to public utilities and market firms, to implanting false information on online media.
- Foreign nations are increasingly buying and exploiting aggregated online personal data tp "inform a variety of counterintelligence operations."
- There is still little impetus for countries to restrain themselves in cyber operations. "Many actors remain undeterred from conducting reconnaissance, espionage, and even attacks in cyberspace because of the relatively low costs of entry, the perceived payoff, and the lack of significant consequences."
- Principal threats: Russia, China, Iran, North Korea, and nonstate actors.