Giuliani: Hacking ‘biggest menace’ to US

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R) on Thursday called hacking the “biggest menace” to the United States and the world.

“It’s the fastest growing form of a crime. One of the biggest fears we have is an attack on our grid,” Giuliani said in an interview on Fox Business.

“It’s ubiquitous and we have fallen way behind. Our information systems and our gathering of information and all the wonderful things we can do, we’re way ahead. And on defense, we’re way behind.”

{mosads}

Giuliani was a prominent supporter of President-elect Donald Trump during the campaign.

Since his victory, Trump has repeatedly dismissed reports from the intelligence community that Moscow tried to influence the election by hacking the Democratic National Committee and the email account of John Podesta, Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman.

Giuliani previously had criticized President Obama’s handling of Russian interference in the presidential election, saying the hacking could have been prevented if he acted earlier. 

“Now, after 18 months of this hacking, he does something about it,” Giuliani said last month. “Why didn’t he do something about it 18 months ago? It wouldn’t have happened.”

He also called Obama’s sanctions against Russian officials suspected in the hacking trivial.

“It’s a much bigger picture,” Giuliani added. “That’s why petty little actions like this don’t mean very much.”