Following a recent IG investigation, it was confirmed that the CIA has been spying on Congress by hacking into Senate Intelligence Committee computers. As a result, Mark Udall who serves on the U.S Senate Select Committee on Intelligence has called for the resignation of CIA Director John Brennan.
Will Semple, VP of research and Intelligence at Alert Logic says:
“Accountability is a great word and is rarely used. Nation level capabilities in the areas of cyber, monitoring and intelligence need robust oversight and accountability. There is no doubt that agencies such as the CIA, NSA and GCHQ have a real requirement to develop very advanced cyber capabilities, it does however suggest that the level of oversight and accountability needs to be such that the use of these capabilities are limited to the defence of the nation.
The old adage of who watches the watchmen has never been more relevant, the challenge is how do you have a sustainable and successful oversight programme with a culture of accountability when the advancement in cyber security and adversary based technologies are so rapid.”