Mr. President, if you really want to put America first, don’t cut the White House Cybersecurity Coordinator — the only person in the federal government tasked with delivering a coordinated, whole-of-government response to the growing cyber threats facing our nation.
We face threats from foreign adversaries and bad actors around the globe, and these threats are only going to get worse. Here are just a few examples of what we’re facing:
Just over a year ago, the Wannacry attack hit 230,000+ computers around the world — crippling hospitals, banks, transportation systems, and other important institutions. Our intelligence community concluded North Korea was behind the attack. zdnet.com/article/wannac…
In the wake of President Trump’s decision to pull out of the Iran Deal, we’re already seeing the makings of an increased cyber threat from Iran. nytimes.com/2018/05/11/tec…
And frankly it’s pretty troubling that the same forces in the Administration who aggressively pushed for the U.S. to exit the Iran deal are now seeking to eliminate the exact position that will be tasked with assessing and responding to Iran’s cyber aggression.
Then there’s China, which we recently learned has been operating a much larger state-sponsored hacking operation than previously known. cnet.com/news/china-lin…
The Russian military has initiated massive cyber attacks against Ukraine and other European nations, which have also impacted U.S. computers washingtonpost.com/world/national…
Not to mention the Russian threat to our state and local election systems — in 2016, Russia targeted at least 18 state election systems, and although no votes were changed, in some cases they were able to access restricted elements of our election systems. nytimes.com/2018/05/08/us/…
That’s just a snapshot of the threat we face from state actors. We can’t forget about the threat from non-state cybercriminals. The Administration’s own economists estimate cybercrime cost the U.S. economy between $57-$109 BILLION in 2016 alone. whitehouse.gov/articles/cea-r…
Here’s the point: we should be investing in our nation’s cyber defense, not rolling it back. We also need to articulate a clear cyber doctrine. I don’t see how getting rid of the top cyber official in the White House does anything to make our country safer from cyber threats.
