On the recordSeptember 8, 2016
Mr. Speaker, 2016 is shaping up to be a banner year for cybersecurity, and not in a good way. From attacks on the Ukrainian power grid to attempts to undermine American electoral confidence through the dissemination of hacked documents from the Democratic National Committee, cyber tools are fully emerging as instruments of state power. If these incidents seem to be disproportionately affecting us and our allies, it is because our cybersecurity posture has not yet matched the threat we face. That being said, we recognize, of course, it is easier to attack than to defend. Thankfully, there are steps we can take to protect our networks. We can invest in our cyber defenses, we can clarify cybersecurity roles and responsibilities within government, we can build our workforce to take on these new challenges, and we can also build our resilience. The goal of our adversaries is not necessarily just to leak emails, but it is to shake faith in our electoral system. We cannot allow that to happen. ____________________
