‘Pearl Harbor’ Looms for Vulnerable Networks: McConnell

The U.S. is losing a “cyberwar” and it will take a “cyber Pearl Harbor” for the country to take the steps necessary to protect critical computer systems, the nation’s former intelligence chief said.

Efforts to get companies to agree to voluntary steps to protect against hackers have failed because they see risks of potential lawsuits from customers or business partners, Mike McConnell, now vice chairman of contractor Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Corp., said at a Bloomberg Government cybersecurity conference today.