It’s pretty hard to breach security at the White House.

It was always pretty difficult, but since the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, security has been beefed up accordingly.

There are armed guards everywhere, a wall, crash barriers, motion detectors and other high-tech devices. Snipers on the roof.

Yes, it’s pretty hard for someone with malicious intent to get into 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. these days.

Unless they do so electronically. According to the Associated Press and Fox News, the White House confirmed that Chinese hackers penetrated the executive mansion’s computer system.

The cyberattack involved “spearphyshing” — a hacker strategy that involves sending an email with a link to a website specifically set up to gather information while mimicking a seemingly innocuous site. The email may contain a file such as a .pdf that has been infected with a program to gather information.

Such attacks are not uncommon.

Businesses suffer sensitive information leaks and denial of services attacks from time to time. That’s why the White House — indeed, the entire U.S. government and armed forces — has rules in place governing email and downloads.

But apparently the rules weren’t followed in this case. A staffer opened an infected email.

The White House says the network breached was not a secure one and that the attack was quickly thwarted. A Fox News source said there is no indication any classified information was obtained by the hackers.

Maybe not. At least this time.

But who knows what will happen next time? And there will be a next time.

Computers and the Internet have made our lives a lot easier. But they have also made us dependent.

That means the Internet is increasingly going to be the battlefield for our enemies.

Can you imagine what would happen to our country if someone could figure out a way to halt Internet service nationwide?

The scary thing is that it’s certain someone, somewhere, is working toward that goal.

Internet and communications security should be a top priority for our nation’s leaders.

And it likely is. All in all, it seems the government has a decent record in combating cyberattacks.

But the near-success of the White House infiltration shows weak links remain. And that’s something that could cost us dearly.

— Texarkana (Ark.) Gazette