Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff suggests hackers, not Wall Street, are biggest threat to U.S. financial stability

Speaking to computer security experts attending the RSA Conference in San Francisco today, Department of Homeland Security head Michael Chertoff announced a "Manhattan Project"-level cybersecurity initiative by the feds, citing the 2007 attack on tiny Estonia.

"Imagine, if you will, a sophisticated attack on our financial systems that caused them to be paralyzed," Chertoff said. "It would shake the foundation of trust on which our financial system works."

Actually, I think the subprime mortgage crisis has done more to "shake the foundation of trust" in the markets than any hacker ever could, but maybe that's just me. (Photo by AP/Paul Sakuma)