FBI Director Robert Mueller wants the U.S. private sector to collaborate more closely with police and security officials to combat cyber crime.

During his March 4 keynote to thousands of IT professionals, he said that FBI intelligence indicates the threat of cyber terror is “real and rapidly expanding,” including the rise of extremist Web sites that recruit, radicalize, and incite violence. “We are bleeding data, intellectual property, information, and source code, bit by bit, and in some cases, terabyte by terabyte.”

He also addressed the private sector’s reluctance to work with authorities to solve network breaches.

“We in the FBI understand that you have practical concerns about reporting breaches of security,” he said. “You may believe that notifying the authorities will harm your competitive position. You may have privacy concerns. Or you may think that the information flows just one way-to us.

“We do not want you to feel victimized a second time by an investigation. And we know that putting on raid jackets, courting the media, and shutting down your systems is not the best way to get the job done.”

Mueller pledged that his agency will minimize the disruption to a business, safeguard privacy and data, and where necessary, seek protective orders to preserve trade secrets and business confidentiality. He also promised that the FBI will quickly share with a business what it can about the means and methods of attack.

To read Mueller’s remarks, click here.

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