ADVERTISEMENT While we all can agree more resources for our state and local governments are necessary, we must also ensure these funds are spent responsibly, and effectuate meaningful impacts on risk reduction, Garbarino testified at the hearing. This important bill is a tremendous step forward in our fight, but we can’t stop there.
State and local governments have come under intense pressure from cyber threats over the past few years, and in particular during the COVID-19 pandemic, as more operations moved online and hackers targeted vulnerable and sometimes aging systems.
Schools, hospitals and libraries have been among public institutions targeted by ransomware attacks, among other cyber threats, and the city governments of Baltimore, New Orleans and Atlanta have been forced to spend millions of dollars to recover from ransomware attacks targeting operations in recent years.
By Grace Segers Cyber attack on U.S. pipeline
A cyberattack has prompted a company that operates a major energy pipeline in the U.S. to shut down operations.
The Colonial Pipeline Company said in a statement it learned on Friday that it was the victim of a cybersecurity attack, and so proactively took certain systems offline to contain the threat, which has temporarily halted all pipeline operations, and affected some of our IT systems.
In an updated statement on Saturday afternoon it said it had determined that this incident involves ransomware.
In most ransomware attacks, criminal hackers seize data and demand a large payment to release it, although it s unclear what was taken or whether any demands were made.
House cybersecurity chair plans to reintroduce state and local grant proposal
Rep. Yvette Clarke, D-N.Y., right, with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the Rev. Al Sharpton in 2018. (Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images)
Share Apr 8, 2021 | STATESCOOP
Rep. Yvette Clarke, the chairwoman of the House Homeland Security Committee’s cybersecurity panel, said Wednesday she will soon reintroduce legislation that would create a robust annual grant program supporting state and local governments.
Speaking during an online event hosted by the Cybersecurity Coalition, a nonprofit group, Clarke, D-N.Y., said she plans to bring up a new version of the State and Local Cybersecurity Improvement Act, which passed the House last year with large bipartisan support but did not get a vote in the Senate.
Key House leader to press for inclusion of cybersecurity in infrastructure bill thehill.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from thehill.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.