Innovation Nation: Leveraging Technology to Secure Cyberspace and Streamline Compliance
Committee on Homeland Security
2025-05-28
Loading video...
Source: Congress.gov
Participants
Transcript
The Committee on Homeland Security will come to order and without objection, the chair may declare the committee in recess at any point. Today's field hearing will explore how the public and private sectors can work together to address the economic models of cybersecurity To do this, we will examine the cyber threat landscape, cyber regulations, and the technology that will improve America's cybersecurity posture. I want to thank the members of the committee who made it out for this and took time to join us here in Silicon Valley. I now recognize myself for an opening statement. Well, good afternoon, and I want to thank all of you for coming today. The topic is one that is incredibly important for our country. And I thank the Hoover Institution for hosting this on such an incredibly beautiful campus. And I don't know who brought the weather here. Is it like this all the time? I mean, it's incredible. It's not a coincidence that we're holding today's hearing here in the middle of Silicon Valley. Since World War II, Silicon Valley has been the world's shining example of what a nation can accomplish when innovation is unleashed. It's the home of some of America's most talented and creative minds, innovators who are spearheading major breakthroughs in technological development from semiconductors to social media. Silicon Valley has produced innovations that have changed the way we work, communicate, and complete our daily tasks. As we know, great technological advancements come with great responsibility. I'm here today to emphasize the importance of prioritizing our cybersecurity as we build new capabilities that will continue to change the world. And I have prioritized cybersecurity for myself in this Congress and for the Committee on Homeland Security. And I hope the industry partners that are here and across the country will join us in this mission to improve our cyber resilience against nation states, as well as criminal actors.
Strengthen our offensive posture and develop new capabilities that incorporate security from the start. I strongly believe that allowing American innovation to flourish is critical to strengthening our national security. And that's why we must start by injecting some common sense into the regulatory regime. The increasingly burdensome, costly, and duplicative requirements placed on our innovators are stifling our innovation and hindering our national security. Instead, we must continue to explore technological solutions for regulatory compliance and ways that we as Congress can help de-conflict and simplify cyber regulations. This priority pairs well with another focus of mine this Congress, changing the economic models of cybersecurity. The costs and incentives associated with cybersecurity are currently imbalanced in favor of the attacker rather than the defender. According to a report by IBM, the global average cost of a data breach in 2024 was nearly $4.9 million. In many cases, to inflict multimillion-dollar damage on U.S. businesses, attackers only need some degree of technical knowledge and a laptop, a fraction of the costs faced by their victims. Fixing the economic models of cybersecurity will require a concentrated effort across industry and our government. First, we must raise the cost of cyber attacks for our adversaries. From strengthening our offensive posture in cyberspace to creating innovative cybersecurity solutions, the United States must make it more challenging and costly for adversaries to strike. Secondly, we must ensure that American businesses, especially private owners and operators of critical infrastructure, are investing heavily in cybersecurity. There needs to be a greater demand for products designed with cybersecurity in mind. accompanied by a supply shift toward more secure information technology and operational technology.
There is an undisputable connection between what happens here in Silicon Valley and the security of U.S. critical infrastructure. The technology and cybersecurity solutions produced here have applications across all critical infrastructure sectors. By improving investment in cybersecurity and raising costs for our adversaries, the entire nation will be more secure. Cybersecurity truly is a team sport. Our collective defense against cyber threats relies upon private-public partnerships and information sharing. We want to turn that information sharing into action. And I'm grateful for Chairman Garbarino's efforts to preserve and enhance these partnerships, including through the reauthorization of CISIS 20-2015, and I look forward to discussing other ways to strengthen public-private partnerships in cybersecurity. to thank our witnesses for joining us today. I look forward to discussing the current threat landscape with each of you and to examine ways that we can realign the economic models of cybersecurity. Our discussion will position us well to delve into finding solutions with some of our nation's most prominent innovators during the breakout session that follows this hearing. We have much more work to get done and to get to where we need to be. But I'm confident that if we work toward these objectives together, we will accomplish our mission. I look forward to the effort. I'd now like to recognize the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Cybersecurity and Homeland Security Committee, Mr. Garbarino from New York.
Sign up for free to see the full transcript
Accounts help us prevent bots from abusing our site. Accounts are free and will allow you to access the full transcript.