--- title: How Real is the Threat of a Cyberattack? | TIME description: The threat of a state-sponsored cyberattack on the U.S. is inevitable and can potentially destabilize the global system. canonical: https://time.com/video/D5Y8Ll5v/ og:title: How Real is the Threat of a Cyberattack? og:description: The threat of a state-sponsored cyberattack on the U.S. is inevitable and can potentially destabilize the global system. og:url: https://time.com/video/D5Y8Ll5v/ og:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/D5Y8Ll5v/poster.jpg?width=720 og:type: video.other twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: How Real is the Threat of a Cyberattack? twitter:description: The threat of a state-sponsored cyberattack on the U.S. is inevitable and can potentially destabilize the global system. twitter:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/D5Y8Ll5v/poster.jpg?width=720 --- # How Real is the Threat of a Cyberattack? > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ## Video: How Real is the Threat of a Cyberattack? [Watch (HLS stream): How Real is the Threat of a Cyberattack?](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/D5Y8Ll5v.m3u8) (2:33)  _Published 2015-07-07. The threat of a state-sponsored cyberattack on the U.S. is inevitable and can potentially destabilize the global system._ --- Jul 27, 2023 6:30 PM UTC --- ## More From This Series [All Videos](https://time.com/video/) [What to know about the cyberattacks targeting U.S. water systems](/video/4FuHyPr2/) ### What to know about the cyberattacks targeting U.S. water systems [President Trump Reduces Restrictions on U.S. Responding Offensively to Cyberattacks](/video/Ch90Uxh0/) ### President Trump Reduces Restrictions on U.S. Responding Offensively to Cyberattacks [Command Post: How Realistic Is a Cyberattack on Our Electrical Grid?](/video/eVD2PAyD/) ### Command Post: How Realistic Is a Cyberattack on Our Electrical Grid? --- ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] One thing that worries me about cyber, which is probably the single thing I'm most concerned about is a black swan that could really destabilize the global system in the next year, is that the American government which spends more time and money on this than anyone else Has been consistently surprised by attacks that have occurred from cyber recently. And they are working actively to understand exactly the scope of this particular intrusion, and also to determine who is responsible. The Chinese, who have been The most sophisticated in terms of using cyber for industrial espionage as they'd been getting inside American companies and getting some extremely high- tech information giving it to their own state- owned enterprises. The Americans have been surprised about just the breadth in capabilities the Chinese have. That doesn't bode well in a world where there are increasingly significant numbers of actors that both have disruptive cyber Capabilities, both the states and non state actors who would love to use that against the US. It is the battlefield of the future. Long term the concerns that China represents as a competitor to American corporations is great. But the Chinese are not trying to engage in what we call integrity attacks. Actually changing and destroying infrastructure institutions because the Chinese Are very much an indispensable part of the global economic system. They wanna win, but they need to have sort of strong economic interlocutors to be a part of that. We believe very strongly that the United States and China should be working together to develop and implement a shared understanding of appropriate state behavior in cyber I worry about Anonymous. I worry about terrorist organizations, who themselves are much hard, to actually deter in the acts that they take, as their cyber capabilities get greater. What will they be able to. To do. [ MUSIC ] The latest this video from a fringe pro- ISIS hacking group. [ FOREIGN ] Threatening a cyber- attack is coming. The ability to actively defend against a committed adversary with serious cyber- capabilities, the US just doesn't have And that's fine in an area where you can have mutually assured destruction like what the Chinese. With most actors that are looking to truly disrupt through cyber- capabilities, that's a vulnerability for the US. [ MUSIC ] ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"How Real is the Threat of a Cyberattack?","description":"The threat of a state-sponsored cyberattack on the U.S. is inevitable and can potentially destabilize the global system.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/D5Y8Ll5v/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-07-07T15:52:27.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/D5Y8Ll5v.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/video/D5Y8Ll5v/","duration":"PT2M33S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/video/D5Y8Ll5v/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}} ```