Grassley Urges Strong Defense of Critical Infrastructure During Senate Judiciary Subcommittee Hearing

Grassley Urges Strong Defense of Critical Infrastructure During Senate Judiciary Subcommittee Hearing

WASHINGTON - Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) today participated in a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology and the Law regarding Chinese cybersecurity threats.

Grassley is a fierce advocate for bolstering U.S. critical infrastructure and securing Americans' data. He's leading bipartisan legislation to require websites and apps to disclose ties with malicious foreign entities like China, North Korea, Russia and Iran. Grassley has also called on federal agencies to beef up cybersecurity protocols and launched several oversight inquiries into recent cyberattacks that impacted telecommunications companies and the government agencies they service.

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Grassley questioned the following witnesses:

• David Stehlin, CEO of the Telecommunications Industry Association

• Adam Meyers, Senior Vice President of Crowdstrike

• Isaac Stone Fish, CEO of Strategy Risks

Excerpts from Grassley's questions follow.

Chinese Equipment in Critical Infrastructure

"This Congress, I've engaged in extensive oversight relating to the cybersecurity of our critical infrastructure and the security of the American people's data. I've written to federal agencies and the private sector about cyberattacks and the steps taken to protect against them.

"Mr. Stehlin, much of the equipment used in the administration of U.S. critical infrastructure, particularly in the telecommunications sector, is or was manufactured in China. What are the national security implications of Chinese technology and equipment in our networks?

"Mr. Fish, the Office of the National Cyber Director has identified that Memory Safety typically represents 70 percent of the cyber risk facing legacy and modern IT systems. For the manufacturers of these IT systems, what would you recommend they do now to prevent Memory Safety exploitation?"

Foreign Commercial Spyware and American Data Privacy

"Mr. Meyers, last December the DNI issued a public bulletin about the risks of foreign commercial spyware. In June, I introduced the App ID Act with Senator Cortez Masto, which would require apps owned or controlled by foreign adversary countries to disclose that fact to users.

"Could you please explain the threat posed by foreign commercial spyware to everyday Americans' data privacy and steps we can take to mitigate that threat?"

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