President Obama talked cybersecurity and hacking during an interview with NBC’s Lester Holt, and said he tries to be cautious when sending emails.
“My general rule about email is: Don’t send something that you don’t mind being published in the newspapers,” Obama said.
“I will tell you that the cyber issue is a different kettle of fish,” he said. “The ability, at a fairly low cost, for state actors like Russia and China, but also non-state actors, to penetrate core functions in our society … that is moving faster than our defenses are moving.”
“Our problem is we’re more vulnerable because we’re more digitalized,” Obama added.
{mosads}Holt had asked Obama about the ongoing news surrounding hacking during the election that has since been linked to Russia.
Intelligence agencies have concluded that Russian President Vladimir Putin had personally ordered a hacking and influence campaign intended to help Donald Trump win the presidency.
The hacks included email leaks from the Democratic National Committee, leading former DNC head Debbie Wasserman Schultz to resign. Leaked emails from Hillary Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta’s emails were also published by WikiLeaks.
And thousands of pages of Clinton’s emails have been published as part of an investigation into her use of a private email server while secretary of State.