Test test captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2008 why is it, you know, that its hard for us to get that right . Do you think its possible to continue incentive based Public Private partnerships as part of an effective Cyber Defense program or do you think its going to come to congress having to more strongly consider imposing mandates . Well, i think the other commissioners would agree the approach weve largely taken in this report was to try and incentivize the private sector to work more closely with the federal government or as we say in the chairmans letter trying and incentivize the private sector to take Cyber Security seriously. There are areas, however, where we are imposing further requirements that some in the private sector will no doubt view as onerous, but i do think connected to the earlier series of questions on the russian hack and things like that, i think culturally what were trying to do here is shift the culture and the Intelligence Community and this is my verbage not contained in the final report, from a cultural need to know to more need to share. Its not just that we need the private sector to step up and do more for their own security, but we also want our Cyber Security professionals and federal government to be in a posture where theyre constantly sharing something with the private sector so they are seen as a valued partner with the private sector and the private sector doesnt view them suspiciously. Towards that end we recommend creating a common environment for sharing thread information inside and other relevant data across the federal government and then between the public and private sectors, our recommendation to strengthen Public Private integrated cyber center is intended to allow for that closer collaboration between the public and private sector and finally we have a recommendation about establishing a joint Cyber Planning Office to coordinate Cyber Security planning and readiness across the federal government and between the public and private sector. So i guess in some i still maintain hope that we can pursue an incentive based approach. But you are right to suggest that i think everything hinges on the level of trust between the private sector and the Public Sector because the reality is, as senator kaine and i say in the opening letter, were not the Chinese Communist party. We cant just dictate outcomes for the private sector nor should we want to, right . We want to maintain the free and open and innovative environment we have in america. Its a delicate balance, but its one we hope weve struck well in the commissions final report. Yes. So it sounds like a little bit of territorialism, too, which is one of the things weve learned about in a post9 11 world. To see that rearing its head is not a good thing. I just want to be very mindful of my time and all of our witnesses time. I have to give a shout out to chris krebs because i think he is doing such a great job especially in the area of Election Security, really reaching out to individual states to help them secure their election infrastructure but id like to ask both in light of the threats and challenges associated with the upcoming 2020 election, do you think the federal government is doing enough to defend elections from foreign interference . So im happy to start on that. I think not yet, no. I agree with you. I think chris krebs and the men and women at sisa are doing a terrific job and working very hard with state and local Election Officials who i think are also taking this very seriously. But in the Commission Report we have a number of recommendations that we really Hope Congress will act on and will act on very quickly. One of those is obviously the reforming of online political advertising. To prevent foreign interference in that regard. The other is providing the wherewithal, the support to our state and local officials so that in the form of grants so that they can do the things that need to be done to put secure systems in place, but also to put paperbased audit capabilities in place so that we can reassure the public about the legitimacy of the process when it is challenged. Yeah. So let me jump in. Thats very thoughtful, as always, what suzanne has said. You know, our Commission Report as the two cochairmen said has three parts of layer defense. When you look at elections each part of that layer defense has to be deployed, right . So shaping international behavior. Its not only us that is being attacked in our election. It is all free and democratic nations. The idea with partner nations, our friends and allies, those who believe in democracy and free enterprise, so that together we can share Lessons Learned and bolster our systems. The second resilience, suzanne spoke about it as always brilliantly. The Election Commission needs a cyber expertise because this is not one and done. It is not like were going to protect our systems and then thats it we dont ever have to protect them again. It is going to be consistent and constant. The third part of layer defense is imposed costs. Right . And so the adversaries that try to undermine what makes us a great nation, you know, have to actually really understand there will be costs imposed upon them for this. So the three parts of layer defense you can see when you look at the question of elections, how they all must relate to one another to make us more secure. Thank you so much. If we can protect our cant protect our elections that will doom our democracy. I think quicker than anything else. Thank you all so much for being here today and i yield back. Thank you. I now recognize myself for five minutes. Id like to start by thanking chairman thompson for calling todays hearing and the chairman landvan for his dedicated work to strengthen americas Cyber Security both as a commissioner and valuable member of this committee. Cyber security advocates have been sounding the alarm for years about americas vulnerability to cyber attacks. As a representative from illinois, a state that experienced a major cyber attack in our election system in 2016 i am well aware that such attacks pose a threat at all levels of government, and so a whole of government response is required. In the last few months the covid19 pandemic has exposed this vulnerability like never before. As americans have struggled to telework securely, overworked hospitals have suffered ransom ware attacks. Cyber attacks targeted vaccine developers, and more. I am pleased the commission built on the recommendations in the march report by publishing a white paper in may on Cyber Security lessons from the pandemic. In this white paper the Commission Found maligned foreign disInformation Operations are undermining Public Health, quote, the resulting confusion is threatening to become a literal matter of life and death. Miss spalding, dan you elaborate how disinformation impabtsz our Cyber Security, Public Health or other areas of National Security even to the point of life and death . Absolutely, congresswoman. Thank you for that really important question that we have seen our adversaries take advantage of this situation in putting out disinformation around covid that confuses the public. It may not be that they are able to convince the public necessarily of the narrative that they are pushing, but they create confusion, which is deadly enough. If the public gives up as i say on their ability to figure out what is fact, when at a time when giving the American Public facts about what they should be doing to protect themselves, their families, their communities, and our nation, that is extremely destructive. When we see the covid coming together with our elections, as Election Officials are making decisions about how to adjust whether to adjust elections in light of the pandemic, and then those are winding up in courts and weve seen disinformation around all three of those covid, elections, and the courts and that is a really dangerous combination that threatens the peaceful transition of power. Thank you. I agree with the commissions assessment of the severe and even deadly Security Threat posed by disinformation, which is why in the last month i introduced the protecting against Public Safety disinformation act. This bill would direct the department of Homeland Security to assess, malign foreign disInformation Operations that threaten Public Safety and share their findings with state and local authorities like Public Health departments, emergency managers, and first responders. The commissions recommendations repeatedly highlight the role of state and local officials in heartening our Cyber Security posture. Miss spaulding, why is it so important for state and local officials to be involved in our National Response to disinformation and other Cyber Security threats . So weve gotten used to the state and local officials on the front lines of responding to disasters in the real world. We have to understand, as you say, that they are also often on the front lines of responding to disinformation that causes confusion in their communities. We know that local sources of information are often more trusted than National Sources and we also know that they are being targeted both with ransomware, with traditional cyber activity, but the traditional cyber activity can be designed to undermine public confidence, so part of an Information Operation and they need to be supported in combatting that. Thank you. As you may know the personal information of 76,000 illinois voters was accessed by russian operatives in 2016. Since then our state and local Election Officials have been working hard to improve election systems and infrastructure, but due to limited resources some have faced challenges in upgrading legacy machines and hiring additional Cyber Security personnel. Now when state budgets across the country have been devastated by this pandemic, federal support is more you aurgently n than ever. Over two months ago the house passed a bull the heroes act which would provide 3. 6 billion for Election Security grants in the states. Unfortunately, the senate has yet to act on this bill. We know that Election Security grants like those in the heroes act would equip these state and local officials with the resources they desperately need in order to secure our elections and National Security ahead of the election in november. With that i yield back. I have to step away and so ms. Rice will now chair the hearing. Thank you. Thank you so much. It looks like we have come to the end of the questioning so i would love to thank the all of our witnesses for your valuable testimony today and the members for their questions. This is a report that every Single Member of Congress Needs to digest and immediately get onboard doing something about in implementing as many of these recommendations as we can. The members of the subcommittee may have additional questions for the witnesses and we ask that you respond expeditiously in writing to those questions. Without objection the committee record shall be kept open for ten days. Hearing no further business other than to congratulate Mike Gallagher once again on lovely baby grace the subcommittee stands adjourned. Thank you all. Week nights this month were featuring American History tv programs as a preview of whats available every weekend on cspan 3. Tonight a look at world war ii. 75 years ago on september 2nd, 1945, government and military officials from the empire of japan signed surrender documents in a ceremony aboard the uss missouri in tokyo bay bringing the pacific war and the hostilities of world war ii to a close. The 75 Commemoration Committee marked the anniversary aboard the uss missouri docked at pearl harbor. Watch tonight beginning at 8 00 eastern. Enjoy American History tv this week and every weekend on cspan 3. The first president ial debate between President Donald Trump and former Vice President joe biden is tonight at 9 00 eastern from cleveland. Watch live on cspan. Biden is recklessly campaigning against this vaccine. All it is is for political reasons. Bid biden, his whole deal is catastrophic shutdown. His own words recorded by bob woodward, the president knew back in february, that this was an extremely dangerous communicable disease. Think about it. How many people, how many empty chairs around the dinner tables because of his negligence and selfishness. Watch the first president ial debate live from cleveland tonight on cspan. Stream live or on demand an cspan. Org debates or listen live on the cspan app. Youre watching cspan 3, your unfiltered view of government. Created by americas capable Television Companies as a Public Service and brought to you today by your television provider. Five former executives with the agency that oversees voice