Sheila Jackson Lee: “As long as there is silence about cyberattacks like ransomware, the criminals and terrorists will remain out of reach…”

“As long as there is silence about cyberattacks like ransomware, the criminals and terrorists will remain out of reach and continue to feel safe and emboldened in carrying out these attacks, often from the soil of our enemies or peer competitors. I applaud and thank the Biden administration for its quick action in responding to the attack against Colonial Pipeline, but it did shut down the whole East Coast, and he did it by an executive order. Today, our Nation is in a cybersecurity crisis. The attacks against Federal, State, local, territorial, and Tribal Governments, as well as threats posed to private information systems and critical information systems make this bill necessary. So I am hoping, along with those who have been attacked, like the Metropolitan Police Department, the medical system in Houston--the gang known as the Babuk group released thousands of Metropolitan Police sensitive documents, and it goes on and on. Madam Speaker, I include in the Record four articles regarding this issue. [From the Forbes Magazine, July 20, 2021] Turning Up The Heat: A Ransomware Attack On Critical Infrastructure Is a Nightmare Scenario (By Richard Tracy, Forbes Councils Member) Ransomware attacks in 2020 were up more than 150% compared to the previous year, while ransomware payments were up over 300%.…”