U.S. Rep. John Ratcliffe (R-TX) on Tuesday chaired a hearing to examine the ability of the United States to carry out its mission to protect federal networks, facilities and critical infrastructure against cyberattacks through the Department of Homeland Security’s National Protection and Programs Directorate (NPPD).
Ratcliffe, the chairman of the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Protection, and U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX), the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, also heard testimony about NPPD efforts to broadly adopt enhanced cyber and physical security practices across the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
NPPD, through partnerships with critical infrastructure operators and other homeland security stakeholders, provides cybersecurity capabilities and the ability to search for malicious cyber activity.
“We have to get this right because new technologies — the internet of things, driverless cars, artificial intelligence and quantum computing — are rapidly evolving,” Ratcliffe said. “We need to be securing at the speed of innovation — not of bureaucracy.”
McCaul noted that U.S. national security is continually threatened by Islamist terrorists, tyrannical regimes, human traffickers and transnational gang members — but that “invisible attacks” and cyberwar make everyone a potential target as people grow more reliant on computers.
The lawmakers highlighted some of the major cyber attacks that have occurred recently, including the security breach of the Equifax credit reporting agency in September that impacted as many as 143 million people.
The Homeland Security Committee in recent years has taken the lead on initiatives to strengthen the nation’s cyber defense, McCaul said in his opening remarks during the hearing. In 2015, for example, the Cybersecurity Act became law, which enhances information sharing and makes DHS the lead conduit for cyber threat indicators and defensive measures within the federal government, he said.
Earlier this year, the committee advanced a bill, H.R. 3359, which would reorganize NPPD to better advance DHS’s cybersecurity mission. Christopher Krebs, the senior official performing the duties of the under secretary for the NPPD, voiced support for the measure on Tuesday.
“If enacted, this bill would mature and streamline NPPD, and rename our organization to clearly reflect our essential mission and our role in securing cyberspace,” Krebs testified. “The department strongly supports this much-needed effort and encourages swift action by the full House and the Senate.”
DHS, Ratcliffe added, needs a robust workforce and efficient organizational structure to support its mission to ensure cybersecurity and to protect critical infrastructure.
“As the cyber threat landscape continues to evolve, so should DHS, and in doing that, H.R. 3359 is the tool we’ll use to bring NPPD to a more visible role in the cybersecurity of this nation,” Ratcliffe said. “As a committee, and as a Congress, we have taken important steps in the right direction with legislation on information sharing, modernizing the federal government’s information technology, and in getting our state and local officials the cybersecurity support they need.”