Poll: Americans list North Korea, cyber terrorism as top threats

Most Americans view North Korea’s nuclear program and global cyber terrorism as the top threats to the United States’s interests, a poll released Monday found. 

A Gallup Poll showed 82 percent of Americans believe North Korea’s development of nuclear weapons poses a critical threat over the next 10 years, and 81 percent believe cyber terrorism is a critical threat. 

Three-quarters of Americans also see international terrorism as a critical threat, according to the poll. 

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The poll surveyed 1,044 people from Feb. 1-10, and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.

In the time since the poll was conducted, leaders from both the U.S. and North Korea have indicated they are willing to engage in talks after months of tension.

President Trump on Saturday said North Korea must “denuke” before any talks with the U.S., and wouldn’t rule out a direct discussion with Kim Jong Un. Those comments echo the stance of the White House in recent weeks.

The Trump administration reportedly told South Korea last month that it is open to preliminary talks with the North.

Concerns over cyber terrorism come as multiple U.S. officials have said Russia will target the U.S. during the upcoming midterm elections. The U.S. intelligence community previously concluded that Russia carried out an influence campaign during the 2016 election to aid then-candidate Trump.

Officials testified before Congress in recent weeks that the Trump administration has not done enough or has not directly told them to combat Russia’s election interference efforts.

A number of other hacks in the past year infected computers with viruses and led to data breaches.

The WannaCry cyberattacks, allegedly carried out last May by North Korea, infected major European companies, Chinese law enforcement and other organizations with a computer virus.

Last June, the notPetya cyberattack spread to computers across the globe and destroyed data. The attack targeted businesses, costing them millions of dollars. The Trump administration last month blamed Russia for the attack.