Lucas leads request for briefing on Chinese threat to U.S. coronavirus research

U.S. Rep. Frank Lucas (R-OK), ranking member of the U.S. House Science, Space, and Technology Committee, led several of his GOP committee colleagues in requesting a briefing from federal agencies to better understand the challenges America’s research institutions and companies face from Chinese threats.

Specifically, Rep. Lucas and Republicans on the committee requested a briefing by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), which jointly released a May 13 public service announcement (PSA) warning organizations researching COVID-19 of likely targeting and network compromise by the People’s Republic of China.

“Taking into consideration the vital research these U.S. institutions are conducting in order to develop vaccines and treatments for the novel coronavirus that is devastating the entire world, such malicious targeting is reprehensible,” Rep. Lucas and his colleagues wrote in a May 22 letter sent to the directors of the CISA and the FBI.

The agencies’ PSA informed all U.S. research institutions and the American public of the attempts to hack U.S. organizations conducting COVID-19-related research by cyber actors and non-traditional collectors supported by the Chinese government in order to obtain valuable intellectual property and public health data, according to their letter.

“While this announcement is extremely concerning, it is not surprising,” wrote the lawmakers. “As members of the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, experts have warned us about foreign countries’ efforts to steal American technological information and scientific discoveries. The National Counterintelligence and Security Center Director Bill Evanina has said China’s theft of U.S. intellectual property totals as much as $400 billion annually.”

Rep. Lucas and the members want to further understand the challenges America’s research institutions and companies are facing from such threats, as well as the activities the FBI and CISA are taking to detect and prevent such attacks.

“Given the critical nature of the COVID-19 research being conducted at U.S. institutions, it is imperative they take the proper steps to secure their networks and take advantage of the resources your agencies have without delay,” according to their letter, which also included a signature from U.S. Rep. Troy Balderson (R-OH), among several others.