The Dayton Development Coalition held an event with local cyber industry professionals Monday.
At the event — which was co-hosted with DaytonDefense — officials from the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI and several commercial industries discussed cyber security and its impact on national security.
The meeting at Sinclair Community College was closed to the media. But U.S. Rep. Mike Turner held a press conference afterwards.
Turner said cybersecurity is a major concern for American businesses as tensions rise between Russia and the West. He said it's becoming more difficult to predict what new software could be used to corrupt computer data.
“These are crimes. When they occur, [businesses] need to know how to access our criminal justice system, both to get information as to what to do and also so that we can prevent these attacks in the future,” Turner said.
According to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency — a federal organization that manages and mitigates cyber threats — there are no current credible cyber threats to the U.S. despite Russia’s attack on Ukraine.
But Russian groups have releaseddestructive malware on Ukrainian government computers, which may have an impact on organizations beyond the country.
Turner said although businesses might be hesitant to report any cyber threats or attacks on their systems, it is important they do so that government agencies can act quickly.
“Cyber attacks are very difficult to defend against because you don't know what new technology or software that they might have,” Turner said. “What we need to do is make certain that we're on the front lines of detecting attacks so that we can then figure out what their vulnerabilities are and stop them.”
Turner encourages Miami Valley businesses to call his office if they suspect a malware attack.
Other agencies where Ohio businesses can report or find resources for any threats include the Ohio Cyber Security Center, the Statewide Terrorism Analysis and Crime Center or the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency — which oversees several different regions across the country.
Alejandro Figueroa is a corps member with Report for America, a national service program that places journalists into local newsrooms. Support for WYSO's reporting on food and food insecurity in the Miami Valley comes from the CareSource Foundation.
