FBI Seattle focuses on cyber threats during Operation Winter SHIELD

SEATTLE — The FBI’s Seattle field office is participating in a nationwide effort to help people and organizations up their guard against cyber threats.

Operation Winter SHIELD (Securing Homeland Infrastructure by Enhancing Layered Defense) includes ten actions that the FBI believes will help guard against online intrusions.

“We are definitely vulnerable,” said W. Mike Herrington, the Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Seattle. “Our attack surface – the things that our adversaries want to take from us and the opportunities to get in front of us – have increased, but the good news is the cybersecurity community has come leaps and bounds in terms of protecting them.”

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Washington is home to some of the nation’s most sensitive critical infrastructure, including ports, military installations, and tech companies.

FBI Seattle says any organization should have a safety plan before and after a cyber attack, including rapid notification to law enforcement.

According to the Internet Crimes Complaint Center (IC3), cyber attacks in the United States stole at least $50 billion between 2020 and 2024.

The FBI’s Cyber Division uses complaints from IC3 to identify trends and build cases against cyber criminal networks.

WATCH: Full Interview with FBI Seattle Special Agent in Charge W. Mike Herrington

Herrington said AI is making threats harder to detect and expanding the capabilities of malicious actors.

“AI is definitely having a big impact,” he said. “I think we are only just seeing the tip of the iceberg on that. I think as years go on, we are going to see a lot more impact from these things. I think the two things are scale and manipulation of trust. That’s a big concern, not only in terms of creating emails that are going to convince someone to do something they shouldn’t, but also audio and visual as well.”