From: GAO-18-622
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In particular, foreign nations—where adversaries may possess sophisticated levels of expertise and significant resources to pursue their objectives—pose increasing risks. Rapid developments in new technologies, such as artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things (IoT),4 makes the threat landscape even more complex and can also potentially introduce security, privacy, and safety issues that were previously unknown.
Compounding these risks, IT systems are often riddled with security vulnerabilities—both known and unknown. These vulnerabilities can facilitate security incidents and cyberattacks that disrupt critical operations; lead to inappropriate access to and disclosure, modification, or destruction of sensitive information; and threaten national security, economic well-being, and public health and safety. This is illustrated by significant security breaches reported by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) in 2015 that resulted in the loss of PII for an estimated 22.1 million individuals and, more recently, in 2017, a security breach reported by Equifax—one of the nation’s largest credit bureaus—that resulted in the loss of PII for an estimated 148 million U.S. consumers.
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