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Cybersecurity Panel Holds Congressional Field Hearing In Univ. City

By Ian Bush

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) --- The gavel came down on a Congressional hearing this morning, but it was in University City, not Capitol Hill, where the House Homeland Security subcommittee on cybersecurity called witnesses to testify on protecting our personal information.

If what Philadelphia FBI special agent Richard Quinn says is true...

"Law will always lag behind technology."

How can enforcers stay ahead of the bad guys and keep us safe?

"Cybersecurity at its core eventually comes down to people," says Matt Rhoades with the Truman National Security Project.

Rhoades says that means workers trained to recognize and act on warning signs in networks -- from nonprofits and small businesses on up.

"That is the biggest challenge for these actors getting more sophisticated," he said. "Do you have an individual on the other side watching that can understand what to do with that information?"

An important investment that comes off the bottom line for institutions like Bryn Mawr Trust.

"We spent a million dollars [in cybersecurity last year]," said Bryn Mawr Trust CEO Ted Peters. "We could probably spend $2 million or $3 million if we wanted to."

Peters says it helps them fend off 30 attacks on their systems every night -- mostly from China.

Subcommittee chair, Congressman Pat Meehan, says the costs of cyber crime are borne by us, and by the economy.

"We're losing jobs," he said. "This is having a real impact."

 

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