MEDIA ADVISORY: Subcommittee Chairman Ogles Announces Hearing on Combating Cyber Threats to Telecom Networks, Data Centers, Satellites

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Today, Subcommittee on Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Protection Chairman Andy Ogles (R-TN) announced a hearing for April 29, 2026, to examine whether the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has the authorities, resources, and sector risk management structure necessary to defend the interconnected communications and information technology (IT) systems, assets, and underlying infrastructure that support American economic and national security.

The hearing comes as threats to the nation's telecommunications networks, data centers, and space-based systems are converging at an unprecedented pace. The Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) "Salt Typhoon" espionage campaign compromised telecom providers across more than 80 countries, swept up over one million American call records, penetrated federal court-authorized surveillance systems, and remains, by the FBI's own assessment, one of the most consequential cyber espionage operations ever conducted against the United States.

More recently, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) carried out kinetic strikes against U.S.-owned cloud computing facilities in the Middle East and publicly identified eighteen major American technology firms as targets for future attack. In space, the People's Republic of China (PRC) and Russia are actively testing offensive satellite capabilities, including cyberattack, electronic warfare, and directed-energy capabilities that could degrade or disable the commercial satellite systems that American businesses, civilians, and government agencies rely on every day. Iran's IRGC has also acquired a Chinese-built satellite and used it to conduct surveillance of American military installations ahead of strikes in the region, demonstrating how rapidly foreign-provided space capabilities can be turned against U.S. forces and interests.

"The widespread China-backed 'Salt Typhoon' intrusions are a ruthless attack from the Chinese Communist Party to desolate our telecommunications infrastructure. Our adversaries are actively seeking to exploit vulnerabilities in the subsea cables that keep us connected, the data centers that power the cloud, and the satellites that serve as the backbone of military operations," Subcommittee Chairman Ogles said. "They know that Americans depend on this infrastructure, yet they attack it anyway. DHS must effectively partner with other federal agencies and industry to shore up our defenses across sectors before the next attack. I look forward to hearing from private-sector witnesses on how this Committee can ensure the Department can crush these threats."

DETAILS:

What: A Subcommittee on Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Protection hearing entitled, "Data Centers, Telecommunications Networks, and Space-Based Systems: Modernizing DHS's SRMA Role for the Communications and IT Sectors."

When: Wednesday, April 29, at 10:00 a.m. ET

Where: 310 Cannon House Office Building

WITNESSES:

RADM Mark Montgomery, USN (Ret.)
Senior Director and Senior Fellow, Center on Cyber and Technology Innovation, Foundation for Defense of Democracies

Robert Mayer
Senior Vice President, Cybersecurity & Innovation, USTelecom - The Broadband Association

Sam Visner
Chair, Board of Directors, Space Information Sharing and Analysis Center

Scott Algeier
Executive Director, Information Technology-Information Sharing and Analysis Center

Witness testimony will be added here. The hearing will be livestreamed on YouTube and will be open to the public and press. Press must be congressionally credentialed and should RSVP in advance.

BACKGROUND:

Last month, the Subcommittee convened a hearing to assess the increasing national security threats and economic risks posed by AI, robotics, and autonomous sensing technologies developed by companies linked to China.

In January 2026, the Subcommittee convened a hearing to examine how the federal government and private sector can more effectively partner to build up a proactive, coordinated, and forward-leaning cyber posture. That month, the Committee held an oversight hearing with testimony from CISA's Acting Director, along with other DHS component leadership, and examined the agency's workforce and readiness to combat sophisticated threats.

Last November, Subcommittee on Transportation and Maritime Security Chairman Carlos Gimenez (R-FL) and Subcommittee Chairman Ogles held a hearing to assess the threats posed by our adversaries to subsea cables and examine the safeguards U.S. companies and DHS should implement to mitigate national security risks.

That month, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 2659, the "Strengthening Cyber Resilience Against State-Sponsored Threats Act," legislation introduced by Chairman Ogles to establish an interagency task force, led by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), to address the widespread cybersecurity threats posed by state-sponsored cyber actors associated with the CCP.

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