ISIS Cybersecurity Threat to America's Electric Grid

Oct 19 - Congressional Documents & Publications

The report of ISIS cyber-attacks against the nation's electric grid is a danger to our nation and our citizens that I am seeing to protect us against with the introduction of HR 85, a bill to protect critical infrastructure from terrorists' attacks. Congresswoman Jackson Lee

Washington, DC - Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee , a Senior Member of the House Homeland Security Committee , and Ranking Member on the Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Investigations released the following statement regarding the potential Cybersecurity threats from ISIS on the United States energy grid:

"Today, reports on statements made by a Department of Homeland Security official who cited ISIS as the sources of ongoing attempts to attack the U.S. electricity grid are disturbing. According to officials ISIS is engaging in pen testing of our nation's electric utility grid with little success. No solace should be taken in the fact that ISIS has been unsuccessful. ISIS need only be successful once to have catastrophic impact on regional electricity supply.

"This nation is presented with new challenges in confronting threats to our national security, and cybersecurity. Critical infrastructure remains an essential area that must receive the needed attention to protect it against all threats and all-hazards. Post-9/11 established the need to anticipate unexpected threats from a variety of sources. The nation must plan to be a step ahead of our enemies in order to effectively detect, deter, and defend against terrorist attacks in whatever form they may arise, including cyberattacks to our nation's critical infrastructure. It is for these reasons that I proposed H.R. 85, the Terrorism Prevention and Critical Infrastructure Protection Act of 2015. This bill should it become law would greatly assist in our nation's ability to protect critical infrastructure from the worse effects of cyber-attacks.

"H.R. 85, was introduced to protect critical infrastructure like the electric utility grid from cyber terrorism. The need for a national strategy that includes information-sharing and public-private partnerships has become increasingly evident. The bill directs the Secretary of Homeland Security to work with critical infrastructure entities to take proactive steps to manage risk and strengthen the security and resilience of the nation's critical infrastructure against terrorist attacks. H.R. 85 will also establish terrorism prevention policy to engage with international partners to strengthen the security and resilience of domestic and foreign critical infrastructure. In short, this act will place great greatly increase the defense for America against all forms of cyber threats.

"The majority of our nation's critical infrastructure is owned by the private sector. However it is in the national interest that these resources are resilient, reliable, and available.

"The nation must be adequately prepared to fight cyber terrorism just as vigorously as we combat other form of terrorism carried out through physical violence. We can be prepared to meet and defeat cyber terrorism threats with legislative efforts like H.R. 85, which would offer tools to effectively address terrorist attacks against critical infrastructure."

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