Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick, a former FBI special agent, discussed the evolving landscape of cyber threats with the Homeland Security Committee.
According to his office, Fitzpatrick’s role in the committee has been to work to defend the country’s domestic networks and establish an assessment of the current cyber threat environment.
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The committee heard testimony from retired General Keith B. Alexander, president and CEO of IronNet Cybersecurity; Michael Daniel, president of Cyber Threat Alliance; Frank J. Cilluffo, director of Center for Cyber and Homeland Security at George Washington University; and Bruce W. McConnell, global vice president of EastWest Institute.
Fitzpatrick asked those testifying about redundancies in the agencies that investigate cybercrime and also how the government could learn from the private sector.
Alexander responded by suggesting federal agencies work closer together on cyber investigations.
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“If we were running out government like a company … nope we wouldn’t do that,” he testified, speaking of the separation of agencies.
The congressman noted that cybersecurity has become a complex national and economic issue which involves state actors like North Korea and Russia, hacktivists and even cyber-criminals targeting consumer and personal data. With evolving technology, Fitzpatrick noted that it’s become a critical job of the Department of Homeland Security to protect United States infrastructure – 85 percent of which is owned and operated outside the government.
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“[The] hearing is an important first step to ensure this committee has the information it needs to address this challenge on every front, and is prepared to equip DHS with the tools it needs to carry out this mission,” said Fitzpatrick. “To that end, it is my belief that we must establish a cybersecurity agency at DHS so it can most effectively carry out civilian cyber defense statutory authorities.”
Just over the last year, officials noted that the country has seen a growing variety of digital threats against federal networks and the private sector; including the recent November election cycle, the hacking of 500 million Yahoo user accounts, numerous hospital IT systems which were frozen with ransomware, and the breaching at the IRS.
“It is worth noting that our enemies today need not attack our government to have a substantive strategic effect on our nation,” Alexander testifed. “It is critical that as a nation, we fundamentally rethink how the government and the private sector relate to one another in cyberspace. We need to recognize that neither the government nor the private sector can capably protect the systems and networks they need to without extensive and close cooperation.”
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Cyber security and cybercrime has been the talk of the nation in recent months after multiple high-profile hacks and what federal intelligence officials concluded was Russian involvement in the hacking of the Democratic National Committee last year.
