The United States faces "serious and significant" threats within cyberspace, the White House's top counter-terrorism advisor said Sunday, adding it was an issue of national security.

"The threats and the vulnerabilities within the cyber domain are serious and significant," John Brennan told NBC, adding a cybersecurity board had been set up at the White House.

"It's a very complex and complicated challenge, but we are working very closely with the private sector."

Last month a row over Internet freedom erupted between China and the United States as Beijing denied any state involvement in cyberattacks on Internet search engine Google.

President Barack Obama said he was "troubled" by Google's statements it had been attacked by China-based hackers, and demanded official answers.

The US Internet giant has threatened to abandon its Chinese search engine, and perhaps end all operations in the country over the cyberattacks. It has also said it is no longer willing to bow to Chinese government censors.

"We're looking at these issues from the standpoint of espionage, from governments, from different individuals, whether they be hackers or terrorist organizations," Brennan said.

"National security is something that is at risk. That's why what we're trying to do is to ensure that our networks, our government networks, our private sector networks have the ability to withstand these attempts to hack in."

The US House of Representatives last week overwhelmingly approved a bill aimed at protecting the Internet and vulnerable computer networks by funding cybersecurity research and training.

earlier related report
Google, US intel teaming up to fight cyberattacks: reports
Washington (AFP) Feb 4, 2010 - A public interest group on Thursday demanded that the US National Security Agency (NSA) reveal details of a reported alliance with Internet powerhouse Google to ward off cyberattacks.

The non-profit Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) based here filed a formal request under the auspices of a federal law requiring government agencies to make public documents related to their dealings.

"The NSA has a long history of bending the rules when it comes to privacy," EPIC executive director Marc Rotenberg told AFP. "There is a genuine reason to stay on top of this."

EPIC also filed a lawsuit to expose a presidential directive document that US officials rely on when it comes to getting private businesses such as telecom firms to cooperate with NSA intelligence-gathering programs.

Google declined to comment on reports of an NSA alliance other than to say it has been "working with the relevant US authorities" in the aftermath of China-based cyberattacks on the Internet giant in December.

Privacy advocates already critical of Google policies regarding saving user data and targeting ads to online patterns of behavior fear that an alliance with the spy network could put private information at risk.

Word of the budding alliance emerged amid an ugly spat between Beijing and Google, which has threatened to pull out of the Chinese market over cyberattacks and Web censorship in China.

Under an agreement still in the works, the NSA would help Google analyze those attacks in a bid to better protect the California-based search company and its users from future intrusions, The Washington Post and The New York Times said, citing unnamed people familiar with the matter.

"If a company came to the table and asked for help, I would ask them... 'What do you know about what transpired in your system? What deficiencies do you think they took advantage of? Tell me a little bit about what it was they did,'" a senior defense official told the Post.

The reported alliance would seek to allow the spy agency to evaluate Google's hardware and software vulnerabilities as well as estimate the sophistication of its adversary in order to help the firm understand whether it has the right defenses in place.

Through the pact, the NSA would also help Google understand how cyberattackers are penetrating its system, while the company would share information on the types of malicious codes found in the attacks without however disclosing related proprietary data.

According to industry experts, the intrusions that began in December targeted Google's source code, the programming language behind its applications, and also targeted over 30 other major technology, defense, energy, financial and media firms.

The Internet giant approached the NSA shortly after the attacks, according to the Post, which noted that any such agreement would be the first time Google has engaged in a formal information sharing relationship with the intelligence agency.

Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair told lawmakers on Tuesday that "we cannot protect cyberspace without a coordinated and collaborative effort that incorporates both the US private sector and our international partners."