Thread by @JoshMeyerDC

I’ve known Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas since he was a federal prosecutor in the 90s and learned even his most important edicts are often understated. After he spent an hour answering questions from @USATODAY, I pored over the transcript for clues. And I found a good one.

@DHSgov Secy. Mayorkas said a lot of threats and issues keep him up at night, including ransomware. But he singled out a largely publicized cyberattack on a Florida water treatment plant in February as something “that should have gripped our entire country.”

The reason: the cyber intrusion wasn’t for profit like the Colonial Pipeline hack, but to tamper with the city water supply and potentially harm or even kill unwitting Americans.

Mayorkas said he has been talking up the Fla. incident as a “galvanizing force” for @DHSgov. I found that officials are terrified of a coming wave of cyberattacks that could go beyond shutting down elements of U.S. infrastructure – like water supplies and hospitals - for profit.

While the Oldsmar intrusion was NOT successful in harming or even killing Americans, the next cyberattack on the operational systems running practically everything in America these days COULD be.

I even found an overseas cybersecurity analyst who had a name for this emerging threat: Killware. Here’s a link to my story for @USATODAYDC about it: The next big cyberthreat isn't ransomware. It's killware. And it's just as bad as it sounds. usatoday.com/story/news/pol… via @usatoday