"Unconstrained Actors: Assessing Global Cyber Threats to the Homeland"
Committee on Homeland Security
2025-01-22
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Source: Congress.gov
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The Committee on Homeland Security will come to order without objection. The chair may declare the committee in recess at any point. The purpose of this hearing is to examine the growing cyber threats to our homeland, the actors, the tactics, and the trends. Specifically, we're going to delve into the risk posed by the People's Republic of China, which has burrowed into our critical infrastructure and compromised our telecommunications networks. We will also discuss the threat posed by our other three nation state adversaries who leverage cyberspace, Russia, Iran, and North Korea. I now recognize myself for an opening statement. Good morning, everyone. Now that we are officially organized as a committee, I'd like to welcome everybody to the 119th Congress, or as we were discussing a little earlier, the 119th. We have lots of work to do to support and secure the homeland. And that is why cybersecurity is our top priority. And it is why the topic of our first full committee hearing is cybersecurity. In today's interconnected world, virtually every aspect of American life is impacted by cybersecurity. From our nation's healthcare system and water supply to simple internet browsing. Cyberspace is increasingly becoming a digital battlefield. America's adversaries use cyberspace to undermine our sovereignty and threaten the services and infrastructure that America depends on. The People's Republic of China, Russia, North Korea, Iran, and criminal actors weaponize cyberspace to harm our nation. They are only getting more sophisticated and unfortunately more aggressive. Right now, the PRC is burrowed into our infrastructure. Let that sink in for a moment. China is pre-positioned in our infrastructure.
We know it, and they have been for years. Should we enter into a conflict with the PRC, the Chinese Communist Party is ready to shut down our essential services, our communications, our energy grid, our maritime ports, and our water systems, to name just a few. We cannot allow this situation to continue. The American economy, our government, the military depend upon the resilience of our networks and our infrastructure. It's past time for us to get a step ahead of the typhoons, a list of actors that seem to grow every day. We've played defense far too long, and now it's time to go on the offensive. To do this, we need prepared cyber professionals. I know that some of these nation states' issues go beyond what our current cyber defenders can address. This is why one of my top priorities this Congress is to pass the Cyber Pivot Act, which cultivates the cyber workforce we need at scale.
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