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House Democrats on Tuesday accused themselves and other members of Congress of making bad cyber policy that allowed America’s enemies to exploit vulnerabilities in the nation’s security.
Democratic members of the House Oversight and Reform Committee acknowledged that the legislature did not do its job in a way that protected Americans from damaging hackers and cyberattacks.
Tennessee Democratic Representative Jim Cooper said he was disappointed that Congress would always come late and slow to implement legislative solutions to cyber problems.
“If I were the average person sitting at home watching this trial, I would doubt that any of our enemies of the nation-state were trembling under their feet, especially since they have now handed over most of their activities to criminal gangs. even doing ransomware attacks on small businesses in America,” Mr. Cooper said at Tuesday’s oversight committee hearing.
Virginia Democrat Representative Gerald E. Connolly said the failure of Congress to prioritize cybersecurity policy in the past years has reflected badly on the legislature.
“Frankly, I think we need to take responsibility in Congress for the fact that this is a very neglected issue,” said Mr. Connolly.
Democrats’ own accounts of cybersecurity came during a sweeping review of whether and how to amend the Federal Information Security Modernization Act (FISMA), which requires federal civilian agencies to have a program to protect their information and detail the responsibilities of agencies.
A string of hacks and cyberattacks that blocked the federal government’s path last year helped Congress review legislation created in 2002 and updated in 2014. Last year, the Biden administration said that Russian hackers were responsible for hacking the SolarWinds computer network administration. Software discovered in 2020 that ultimately put nine federal agencies at risk.
Ransomware attackers have also disrupted operations at schools, hospitals and local government agencies over the past year.
Mr. Cooper has made it clear that he does not think Congress alone is responsible for America’s cyber chaos, and he has placed some blame on companies and organizations working with the government.
“Companies sell us software that can be hacked easily, we get hacked, and then they sell us more software that is also easily hackable,” said Mr. Cooper. “And people know that the federal government is one of the biggest, dumbest customers in the world. We also have the slowest response time, which makes breaking and entry even more infringing, even more dangerous for us.”
Democrats and Republicans are working together to review FISMA, but not every Republican seemed confident they could count on their Democratic counterparts to put policy above politics. Jody Hice of Georgia questioned why witnesses attending Tuesday’s trial were not from the Biden administration.
“I must admit that I am confused, and I am sure that some of my other colleagues also share some of my confusion as to why the majority did not invite management witnesses to testify about their experiences operating on the cyber front. said Mr Hice. “No doubt we have a valuable group of witnesses who are here with us today, and they have years of federal experience, but yet the agency operatives currently dealing with threats from our enemies are inexplicably absent.”
Speaker of the House of Representatives Carolyn B. Maloney, a New York Democrat and chair of the oversight committee, said lawmakers heard from management officials last fall and are consulting with more officials to develop potential changes for FISMA.
To allay Mr Hice’s concerns, Ms Maloney suggested that MPs could hold further hearings.
“We’ve already heard from the government, we can let them in and hear it again or just do a panel. [or] committee discussion, but we’ve already consulted them,” said Ms. Maloney.
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