{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/qanda-cybersecurity-is-national-security", "Q&A: Cybersecurity is National Security", "2024-10-24", "2024", "2024-10", "Republican", "Senate", "IA", "Chuck Grassley", "G000386", "www.grassley.senate.gov", "grassley", "https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases", "scraper", "Q: Is the federal government doing enough to protect critical infrastructure from cyberattacks?\n\nA: Cybersecurity may not be top of mind for Iowans struggling to buy groceries, recover from historic flooding and storm damage or finish the fall harvest. However, as your senator, I\u2019m working to prevent serious disruption to daily life and protect national security from malicious cyberattacks. Cybercriminals pose risk to Americans\u2019 financial security, from identity theft to drained bank accounts siphoned by digital thieves. Malicious cyberattacks from terrorists and foreign adversaries also pose tremendous disruptions to utilities, transportation and communications that would bring daily life to a \u201cscreeching halt,\u201d according to the Government Accountability Office (GAO). In June, the GAO issued a comprehensive analysis that exposed glaring vulnerabilities in the federal government\u2019s cybersecurity preparedness. Its report calls for urgent action to address cybersecurity gaps facing critical infrastructure systems that impact life as we know it.\n\nEven before the recent GAO report, I called upon seven of nine federal agencies charged with shielding the U.S. from cyberattacks. The Departments of Treasury, Transportation, Homeland Security, Energy, Defense, Health and Human Services, and the Environmental Protection Agency have been dragging their feet to implement recommendations to tighten up cybersecurity protocols and beef up risk management strategies. Keeping Americans safe is job number one for the federal government. If these federal agencies are asleep behind the wheel, the U.S. economy and critical corridors of American life are at serious risk of compromise.\n\nQ: Which specific concerns have you flagged to federal agencies?\n\nA: Let\u2019s start with energy. Safeguarding our energy grid is vital to daily life and national security. Energy powers our homes, businesses and farms. A cyberattack on the nation\u2019s energy grid would have catastrophic consequences to health care systems, financial services, transportation networks, municipal utilities and more. I\u2019ve pressed the Department of Interior to explain its cybersecurity strategies to safeguard our nation\u2019s offshore energy network on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf. I\u2019ve also pressed federal agencies to strengthen frameworks in our food supply chains. A few years ago, an Iowa grain co-op was the target of a Russian cybercrime attack. The co-op narrowly managed to avert a crash in grain prices without paying the $5.9 million ransom. This attack and others reflect the serious risk to our nation\u2019s food security and farm economy. That\u2019s why I pushed to hold a hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee to examine how to prevent and respond to ransomware attacks. These kinds of crimes are surging, and as cybercriminals pocket ransomware payments from companies desperate to get access back to their operations, they are emboldened to continue more attacks and disrupt more businesses.\n\nThe federal government must step up its preparedness to prevent, curb and respond to cyberattacks, across the board. Earlier this year, the Senate Finance Committee held a hearing to examine cybersecurity defenses in the U.S. health care industry. I pressed for answers on how the private sector is collaborating with the federal government to protect patient data and thwart ransomware. More recently, I launched an inquiry into the sweeping AT&T hack in April that compromised customers\u2019 call and text history between May 1 and October 31, 2022. The massive data breach impacted 90 million Americans\u2019 data, including federal agencies. I demanded answers from 17 federal agencies to find out what government materials may have been stolen and what the agencies are doing to mitigate future risks. What\u2019s more, I\u2019ve repeatedly sounded the alarm with the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency (CISA) \u2013 our nation\u2019s top cyber defense agency \u2013 to ensure it is doing its job to protect critical infrastructure from bad actors. In August, I wrote CISA to learn more about a massive data breach at National Public Data, a data broker company that provides background checks and fraud prevention services. In that case, the hacker allegedly leaked personal data on the dark web for up to 170 million people. Through my oversight and legislative work, I\u2019m pushing to ensure private entities and the federal government are taking necessary steps to protect national security and prevent the personal information of the American people from falling into the wrong hands. In June, I joined bipartisan legislation to protect Americans\u2019 online presence from bad actors, by requiring websites and apps to disclose to users if their business operations are subject to the control of China, North Korea, Russia or Iran.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-07T21:57:20Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/qanda-cybersecurity-is-national-security"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.6399850137531757, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}