The new head of the FBI, James Comey, told the RSA in San Francisco that the next decade will be dominated by cybercrime.
As a result, agents will move from a reactive mode to a more proactive approach when tackling cybercrime, offering services with the fast response times we would expect from computers.
For example, the FBI has built a database of malware samples, called the Binary Analysis, Characterization and Storage System (BACSS), for investigators. Later this year, a declassified version of it, called Malware Investigator, should be made available to security partners, said Comey, who was sworn in as director in September.
At the conference, he also said: “If a company is hacked you can send the malware to us and, in most cases, within a few hours you get a report on how it works, who it could target and where we have seen it before.”
“Our goal is to make BACSS the same kind of storage space that we have long maintained for fingerprints, criminal records, and DNA.”
The FBI is also expanding its eGuardian program that allows companies to automatically notify the agency of data security breaches involving both confidential and non-confidential data.
Comey said he acknowledged concerns about the US government's intrusion into the online world, but noted that America itself was founded by people who were fed up with their rulers. He promised, however, that the internet is safe in the hands of the FBI.
"The men and women of the FBI are sworn to protect us and care deeply about both our national security and our freedom."
