Axios Event: "Zero Day" highlights the fear factor of cyber threats in U.S.

WASHINGTON – The possibility of a cyberattack that threatens national security is "the bogeyman" that alarms lawmakers and agency workers in D.C. across the political spectrum, a U.S. representative said.

Why it matters: The misuse of technology, vulnerability of infrastructure and focus on "psychosocial" effects of cyber threats by key adversaries like Russia and China present new challenges, themes that are also found in the new Netflix series "Zero Day."

• The political thriller features a former U.S. president (Robert DeNiro) dealing with the fallout of a major cyberattack with nationwide consequences.

Axios' Sam Sabin spoke with Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (D-Pa.) and Chris Krebs, former CISA director and SentinelOne chief intelligence and public policy officer, at the Feb. 26 event sponsored by Netflix.

What they're saying: "I do think that this is one place where we do have a lot in common, whether we're Democrats or Republicans," Houlahan said, "... is the threat of things like cyber security or bio threats, as well … the bogeyman that we can all kind of collectively worry about."

• She added a large majority of those in Congress "have no technical background at all. That makes it really, really hard to articulate why we should worry about this concept."

Between the lines: Former federal agency director Krebs said it's not just the technical aspects that are cause for concern.

• "The problem that we have at CISA and elsewhere in government is that we're not equipped as storytellers like the showrunners are. … This stuff is real," Krebs said.
• Another real-life aspect of cyberattacks "this show captured exquisitely was civil unrest, social upheaval. When the lights are off for two or three days, when the water doesn't work. That's the aspect that we underappreciate, I think, in the national security community here."

What's next: With the new Trump administration, some are worried about possible federal workforce cuts and the effects on the U.S.' ability. to protect its national security interests.

• "Reviewing current posture is natural. The issue I have right now, though, is that the threats we're going to face tomorrow are tenfold what the threats were yesterday," Krebs said.

• "We are going to need more folks at CISA … that have the sophistication capability to go out there and talk to industry and make sure that corporate responsibility is what it needs to be."

Yes, but: Krebs said the second Trump administration is "much, much more prepared" to take on cybersecurity threats than his first administration was.

Sponsored content:

In a View From the Top sponsored segment, the creators, showrunners and executive producers of Netflix's "Zero Day" series spoke about how a desire to communicate about real-life cybersecurity threats informed the show's writing process.

• "To me, there was always this problem that the government had in trying to communicate to the public, 'What would something like this look like?'" co-creator and executive producer Michael Schmidt said.
• "So as a journalist, as a newspaper reporter who writes articles and is very limited by text, this show allowed us all to show the public what this could be in a way that goes far beyond even the testimony of, let's say, the head of the NSA or someone in the intelligence community."