NSA to hackers: We’re not prepared for major attack

National Security Agency Director Gen. Keith Alexander
(Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images/AFP)

On a scale of one to 10, American readiness to deflect a major cyber-attack on its infrastructure is “around three,” head of the National Security Agency and the US Cyber Command said in a rare speech at a hacker conference.

General Keith B. Alexander was attending on Thursday the Aspen Security Forum at the Aspen Institute, a major cyber-security event held for the 20th time this year.

The general said the US saw a 17-fold increase in computer attacks on its power grids, water utilities and other key facilities between 2009 and 2011. He said criminal gangs, hackers and foreign nations were responsible for the attacks.