A pair of Democratic lawmakers are asking US President Joe Biden to increase cybersecurity assistance to Ukraine and its European allies following an attack that disrupted service at a key internet service provider. of Ukraine last month.
In a letter to Biden on Tuesday shared with CNN, Senator Ed Markey and Representative Bill Keating, both of Massachusetts, expressed concern that Russia could strike with further cyberattacks. follow in Ukraine or with hacking to test NATO’s resolve as Russia’s military progress in Ukraine stalls.
A cyberattack last week on Ukrtelecom, which claims to be Ukraine’s largest “fixed line” internet and telephone provider, reportedly dropped the telecom operator’s connection. 13% above pre-war levels.
The lawmakers, both members of their agency’s foreign affairs committee, want a new cybersecurity office to be created at the State Department to strengthen US cooperation with Ukraine and its European allies. on cybersecurity issues, and thereby help protect against Russian attack threats.
A spokesman for Markey’s office called the $37 million that the White House requested from Congress to run the office in fiscal 2023 a “strong starting point,” but said it was “required” that the State Department be in collaboration with government agencies such as the US Cyber Command and the Department of Homeland Security have long provided cybersecurity assistance to Ukraine.
CNN has reached out to the White House for comment.
Separated from the new office, the State Department has overseen millions of dollars in aid to Kyiv to bolster its network in recent years. And the head of the US Cyber Command, the military’s offensive unit, on Tuesday said the command sent a team of cyber experts to Ukraine late last year to help secure infrastructure. of Ukraine.
More information about the hacks: While there has been a flurry of Russian-linked hacks against Ukrainian organizations since the war began, there hasn’t been the level of disruption to critical infrastructure that some analysts have seen. fear.
One exception was a cyberattack at the start of the war that brought down internet service for tens of thousands of satellite modems in Ukraine and elsewhere in Europe. CNN previously reported that US officials were investigating what could be a Russian state-sponsored hack.
On March 21, Biden warned US business executives that “the importance of Russia’s cyber capabilities is quite consequential and it will come.” To date, there have been no consequential hacks against US organizations allegedly attributed to the Russian government. But US officials continue to prepare for the possibility.
Markey and Keating asked Biden to “rapidly” nominate an ambassador general to lead the State Department’s new Cybersecurity Bureau. (Secretary of State Antony Blinken told State Department staffers Monday that Biden will nominate someone for the role “very soon.”)
Democratic lawmakers also want to know what lessons the Biden administration has learned from the Russian hack in Ukraine in recent weeks.
“How does the Administration coordinating U.S. government agencies apply these lessons to strengthen the potential vulnerabilities of the United States as well as those of our allies and partners?” Markey and Keating wrote to Biden, asking for an answer by April 29.
