Kirstjen Nielsen, secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, jokingly roasted Congress for its lack of knowledge about basic cybersecurity facts while speaking to a group of industry experts on the West Coast Tuesday.
“I just want to start off with how good it is to be in a room where I won’t be asked questions about why the dark web is dark, why I can’t pull Bitcoins out of an ATM, and why there isn’t a button for us to turn off the Internet,” Nielsen told attendees at RSA Conference in San Francisco Tuesday morning.
“These are the types of questions I repeatedly hear in D.C. — sometimes multiple times and usually from Congress,” Nielsen added. “So I’m very glad to be here today.”
Taking a serious tone, Nielsen noted the threat cybersecurity issues play to the government and world are only increasing with each year.
“The threat picture is getting dimmer, not brighter,” she said. “I see, as many of you do, that the digital threats are multiplying faster than we can keep up.”
Nielsen said the “threat is so severe” that they stand to “overtake us” if serious action is not taken.
Nielsen also issued a stern warning to state enemies against attempts to interfere in elections held in the U.S. or an allied country.
