World news – US – Underwood plans to focus on election security and ransomware as chair of the House Cyber ​​Committee

Rep. Lauren Underwood: Lauren Underwood, number of black women elected to Congress in 2020, Underwood won re-election in the Illinois House race, Rundown of the House seats Democrats, GOP flipped on Election Day. She said Tuesday that she plans to focus on election security and combat the ongoing ransomware attacks on vital sectors in her new role as chair of the Cybersecurity Subcommittee of the House Internal Security Committee..

« The 2020 elections may be over, but the need for resources remains, » Underwood said during the virtual CyberNextDC conference on Tuesday.. “I am committed to working with my colleagues in the next Congress to make sure our elections will be safer in 2022 and 2024..

Underwood – who took over the chair of the Cybersecurity, Infrastructure Protection and Innovation Subcommittee in September after MP. Cedric Richmond Cedric Levon Richmond Rep. Cedric Richmond to join the Biden administration The Biden co-chair says victories in the traditional red states ‘will give him some coats and some leverage’ with Democrats in Congress accusing Kushner of ‘episodic racism’ over comments about black Americans. (D-La). Step down – stressed that in order to strengthen election security, steady federal funding will be needed.

« We have to be in a place where election security is not received or seen from a partisan perspective, » Underwood said.. State and local officials try to raise every dollar, and they can’t do that.

The issue of election security financing has been a major area of ​​debate among Republicans and Democrats over the past four years, with Congress allocating more than $ 800 million for election security to state and local officials since 2018, an amount that election experts said is far less than needed..

Underwood noted that while upgrading the cybersecurity of electoral equipment, including replacing old and vulnerable devices, was key to ensuring election security going forward, officials could not achieve this without more federal money.

“If these devices cannot reach the community because state election officials and local officials cannot purchase them, we are not in good condition as a country,” Underwood said.. “Right now, I think we have a real political problem that we all need to continue working through to make sure that these resources reach the communities we serve..

Underwood’s comments were made as part of her first public speech about her priorities for the Subcommittee since becoming Chair, and a week after she narrowly won re-election to a second term representing the Fourteenth Congressional District in Illinois.

Underwood has identified several other key priorities that must be addressed in the subcommittee once Conference 117 begins in January, including focusing on the growing problem of ransomware attacks on state and local governments and other groups..

These types of attacks involve the attacker accessing a system and encrypting it, and demanding a ransom before allowing the user access.. Ransomware attacks on hospitals have become a focus of attention during the COVID-19 pandemic, as the healthcare sector has become a prime target for hackers looking to make money..

In order to combat these attacks, Underwood said Tuesday that the federal government needs to focus on sending funding and other resources to groups facing these threats..

Underwood referred to and co-sponsored a bill passed by the House of Representatives in September that would create a $ 400 million grant program to help state and local officials defend against and respond to cyberattacks as a potentially positive step forward..

“I think it is best to prevent ransomware attacks by helping state and local governments build better defenses,” Underwood said. “Even the best defenses can be overcome. We need to be better prepared for this rather than just leaving the victims to fend for themselves.

A key agency with jurisdiction over the Underwood Subcommittee is the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security (CISA), which has been deeply involved in efforts to defend against both election threats and ransomware attacks more broadly..

Underwood said another major goal as president would be « to increase CISA’s ability to expand support to target entities while maintaining planned operations », along with increasing « security of the Internet’s ecosystem. ».

Last week, Hill confirmed that CISA Director Christopher Krebs was expecting President Trump to be fired, Donald John Trump, Tucker Carlson assured viewers that his program was « not going anywhere » after the presidential election, Trump’s senior advisers discouraged the president from launching a military strike For Iran: Senators report Clash on the ground over wearing masks: “I don’t need your instructions.” More, as this is reported to be due to concerns about the CISA’s ‘Control Rumors’ page to expose disinformation and misinformation about the general election. Other CISA officials resigned last week after the White House asked them to leave.

Underwood said she was « disturbed » by the potential change in CISA leadership. She indicated that she intends to « reassess » legislation that has been removed from the upcoming National Defense Authorization Act that would have created a five-year term for a CISA director and potentially creates more stability in leadership..

Underwood generally compared handling of cybersecurity policy issues to the work of John Snow, who first discovered that the 1854 London cholera outbreak was linked to contaminated water..

« Dr.. Snow went to the local authorities and persuaded them to remove the handle from the Broad Street pump so that no more contaminated water could be drawn from it, « said Underwood.. “I am interested in finding the handles for the pump.

“We are dealing with a set of systemic vulnerabilities in the field of cybersecurity. . . . I know there are ways in which we can work together to take a broad approach to addressing the cybersecurity challenges facing our nation  ». .

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Lauren Underwood, Ransomware, Computer Security, US Department of Homeland Security, Republican Party, government agency