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The State and Local Cybersecurity Act, a major bipartisan effort to help defend against cyber attacks sponsored primarily by Rep. Yvette Clarke
Finally, the committee also approved legislation sponsored primarily by Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee
Jackson Lee testified Tuesday of the need for the legislation following reports that Colonial Pipeline paid the cyber criminals behind the ransomware attack around $5 million to regain access to its networks and begin operations after temporarily shutting down. The company has not publicly confirmed that it paid the ransom, but it has not denied reports.
“When Colonial Pipeline was asked by the White House to respond about whether they paid ransom, it was a slow, slow response, almost attempting to hide from the government what they had done,” Jackson Lee noted.
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Editor’s Note: Weekly Cybersecurity is a weekly version of POLITICO Pro’s daily Cybersecurity policy newsletter, Morning Cybersecurity. POLITICO Pro is a policy intelligence platform that combines the news you need with tools you can use to take action on the day’s biggest stories. Act on the news with POLITICO Pro.
The ransomware attack that targeted Colonial Pipeline Co. earlier this month, which continued to cause gas shortages in several states Monday, has prompted lawmakers in both parties to introduce measures designed to address cybersecurity shortcomings in the nation s critical infrastructure - especially gas and oil pipelines.
For example, the bipartisan Pipeline Security Act in the House would codify into law the roles the Transportation Security Administration and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency play in securing gas and oil pipelines.
Another bipartisan proposal in the House, the CISA Cyber Exercise Act, would require CISA to create a national cyber exercise program in which the government and companies would test their IT infrastructures against cyberthreats, including ransomware.
2 Bills Introduced in Wake of Colonial Pipeline Attack govinfosecurity.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from govinfosecurity.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.