U.S. Representative Chuck Fleischmann (R-TN-03), the Ranking Member on the Homeland Security Subcommittee on the House Appropriations Committee, spoke at a hearing regarding the modernization of the federal approach to cybersecurity.
Representative Fleischmann's remarks as prepared are below:
Welcome Acting Director Wales and Executive Assistant Director Goldstein, and thank you for joining us today as we look into ways to help modernize the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.
First off, I know that we are here to identify problems and hopefully come to agreement on some recommended areas for improvement in the government's protection of and response to cyber-attacks, but first let me take this opportunity to address that the scope of this hearing is not to just critique the work that you and the men and women at CISA have done up to this point. With the limited resources you have at your disposal you have done a tremendous job, so thank you.
It is unfortunate that the world of cyber security is almost a thankless job, where in a best-case scenario all of your work allows government operations and agencies to continue unhindered, and all your hard work goes almost completely unnoticed; and at worst, only your shortcomings are brought up after a major attack occurs. So please pass on our thanks to your workforce that we appreciate their efforts.
Unfortunately, despite our best efforts, nation-state actors with access to significant funds and resources have found a way to thwart our best protections and exploit our vulnerabilities, as we have seen from the Russian backed SolarWinds attack, and the much more recent China based attack on Microsoft exchange servers. We have learned from these attacks that our adversaries are not only aware of our capabilities, but they are shrewd and cunning enough to go around them, exploiting our weaknesses and taking advantage of our vulnerabilities in real time, almost completely undetected.
The cyber world is certainly a challenging one, whose vulnerabilities and shortcomings are not always readily apparent. Given the speed at which technology advances, and the skills and abilities of bad actors with it, we must ensure we are doing everything we can to keep up with new advancements, allowing ourselves the ability to both better recognize our shortcomings, and better protect, identify and respond to any future attacks.
I look forward to your testimony on CISA's recommendations for improvements and our ensuing conversation on how to best protect our cyber infrastructure moving forward. Thank you for being here.
Madam Chairwoman, I yield back.
Original source can be found here.
