Hoekstra: US Must Step Up Efforts Against Cyberattacks

Dangerous cyberattacks could be looming on the horizon if the United States doesn't pull itself together when it comes to threats from North Korea and other countries, former House Intelligence Committee Chairman Pete Hoekstra told Newsmax TV's  "America's Forum" Tuesday.

"What we need to do is we need to develop a level of cooperation between government and the private sector to build a defensive system and put them in place so that we better protect our government assets and our private sector," Hoekstra told show co-hosts John Bachman and Miranda Khan.

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The massive attack against Sony Pictures over its comedy, "The Interview," was the most public attack, but "this has been something that's been well-known by the government and the private sector for some time," Hoekstra commented.

And while there was an overnight Internet outage in North Korea on Monday, Hoekstra said that the problems may have been caused by "just a sophisticated group of hackers," and not the United States, as he believes a U.S. attack would have been more extensive.

"It wouldn't be as public, and it might be much more damaging to North Korea than this public attack of just nine to 10 hours," he said.

Meanwhile, there are many crucial installations in the United States that remain vulnerable, including the nation's nuclear power plants and financial systems.

"There could be something much more dangerous looming on the horizon if we don't get our act together," said Hoekstra. "We need to be able to do is to start and be prepared to retaliate and put the fear into any country."

He said he does not know why President Barack Obama has not acted against North Korea, including imposing financial sanctions, "but also acting in cyberspace and making these people pay a real price for attacking the U.S. economy and U.S. business interests."

And Hoekstra does not think that North Korea acted alone against Sony, as it does not have the capability to do so.

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