Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Executive Director Brandon Wales has warned that the U.S. is experiencing amplified cybersecurity threats as nation-state threat actors increase their offensive capabilities and expand hacking tool availability, reports CyberScoop. Russia, China, North Korea, Iran have been putting significant investments in tools targeting U.S. networks, while smaller ransomware gangs have been developing malware that could be leveraged by affiliates, according to Wales. "We continue to see a democratization of malicious cyber capabilities. Today, hacking tools can be purchased for use by any criminal, regardless of expertise, or even rented to provide as a service capability," said Wales. Wales added that both trends have made the threat of cyberattacks "tangible" rather than "conceptual." "Over the past year we have seen cybersecurity intrusions increase in both prevalence and impact, targeting some of our most critical national functions, banks — hospitals, oil and gas companies, and everything in between," he added.