WATCH: FBI Director talks shop in Newark

The director of the FBI used a stop in Newark on Monday to highlight the Bureau's top priority - terrorism, both domestic and overseas - and field questions from the press.

Director James Comey, who grew up in Bergen County, said the face of terrorism has changed drastically over the past decade in the way of Al Qaeda-inspired terror groups and internet-fueled recruitment of "homegrown violent extremists."

"We have seen a metastasis of the Al Qaeda threat that was once centered in the AfPak region…with its progeny springing up in lightly governed or ungoverned spaces," Comey said, specifically referencing the groups ISIL and Al-Nusra Front.

The primary threat of these groups to the U.S., he said, comes from their efforts to radicalize people here to do violence on their behalf. Social media and online videos have allowed terror organizations to spread their propaganda to a much wider and vulnerable audience.

"That's a phenomenon that poses a challenge for us everywhere there are troubled souls in this country, and there are troubled souls all over the place," Comey said.

The fight against terrorism has changed as well, meanwhile. Coordination among different levels of law enforcement is "extraordinarily good" right now, compared to the past, according to Comey.

"If you've fallen asleep before 9/11 and woke up today, you simply would not recognize the federal government on the counterterrorism front," Comey said.

The half-hour press conference touched on a number of FBI-themed issues affecting the Garden State and the U.S., including gangs, public corruption and cyberterrorism.

Responding to several credit card data breaches at major retailers over the past year or so, Comey said there's "a lot going on" behind the scenes, by both retailers and law enforcement, to tighten cyber security and be in a better position for consumers.

Comey's Newark stop was the latest in a series of field office visits across the country.