Jim Langevin on U.S. Cybersecurity

How real is the risk of a cyber attack on the U.S.? Could one cripple the government and the economy?
Absolutely. I put cyber attacks in the category of catastrophic risk, both to government and companies. It could cause a shutdown of the Internet. We are dealing with threats ranging from nation-states to terrorist groups and rogue individuals.

Which Internet domains are most vulnerable?
We do a good job of protecting the dot-mil [military]. In dot-com, dot-org, and dot-edu, we haven't had as much success, particularly the critical infrastructure. That's where the most damage could be done. If the power grid were taken down in the middle of winter, it could cause economic damage and lead to potential loss of life.