Having China, Russia, and Iran routinely rummaging around is cause for concern, says ex-NSA man

RSAC Digital intruders from China, Russia, and Iran breaking into US water systems this year should be a "wake-up call," according to former National Security Agency cyber boss Rob Joyce.

"None of that was significantly consequential," Joyce explained during the NSA's annual State of the Hack panel at RSA Conference on Wednesday. Nonetheless, "that those countries had hackers to combat our critical infrastructure should be a wake-up call. And that there are people out there who, when there's global tensions, feel that their role is to pick up cyber arms."

In the case of Russia and Iran-linked cyber thugs, the gangs doing the breaking in were hacktivists, as opposed to state-sponsored crews. The feds, meanwhile, have flat-out blamed the Chinese government for the recent Volt Typhoon activity spotted on critical infrastructure systems.

In addition to pushing their own political agenda, these hacktivists may have direct links to government ...