A DEFENDER HAS TO BE SUCCESSFUL
EVERY TIME.
>> THAT'S ANDREA MITCHELL
REPORTING FOR US.
JOINING US NOW CHAIRMAN OF THE
HOMELAND SECURITY COMMITTEE AND
MEMBER OF THE ARMED SERVICES
COMMITTEE, DEMOCRATIC SENATOR
GARY PETERS OF MICHIGAN.
HE ALSO IS A FORMER LIEUTENANT
COMMANDER IN THE UNITED STATES
NAVY RESERVE.
SENATOR, THANKS SO MUCH FOR
BEING WITH US.
LET'S START RIGHT THERE WITH
WHAT IS HAPPENING AND WHAT HAS
NOT YET HAPPENED IN TERMS OF
CYBER WARFARE.
OBVIOUSLY SO MUCH ATTENTION ON
WHAT WE CAN SEE IN FRONT OF US
WITH THE ATTACK BY RUSSIA ON
UKRAINE.
WHAT IS HAPPENING BEHIND THE
SCENES AND DO YOU EXPECT RUSSIA
TO STEP UP ITS CYBERATTACKS?
>> WELL, IT IS HARD TO KNOW WHAT
THEY WILL DO.
I THINK AS WAS MENTIONED IT IS
SURPRISING WE HAVEN'T SEEN MORE
CYBERATTACKS BECAUSE THAT TENDED
TO BE PART OF THEIR OPERATIONAL
MODEL AND YOU WOULD DO THAT IN
ANY WARFARE.
CYBER TENDS TO BE THE FIRST
STRIKE AN ENEMY WILL USE.
WE HAVEN'T SEEN IT TO THE EXTENT
THAT WE WOULD EXPECT BUT I THINK
WE SHOULD NOT IN ANY WAY LET OUR
GUARD DOWN.
THEY ARE VERY SOPHISTICATED.
WE ARE FOCUSED ON IT.
I HAD A DISCUSSION EVEN LAST
NIGHT WITH THE SECRETARY OF
HOMELAND SECURITY, SECRETARY
MAYORKAS, THAT THEY'RE WORKING
ON ALL LEVELS TO MAKE SURE OUR
CYBER PROTECTION IS AS STRONG
AND RESILIENT AS POSSIBLE.
>> LET'S BRING IT DOWN TO THE
GROUND LEVEL, SENATOR.
WHAT WOULD HAPPEN?
WHAT IS AN EXAMPLE OF THE KIND
OF CYBERATTACK THAT COULD HAVE
AN IMPACT THAT COULD TIP THE
BALANCE IN A WAR LIKE THIS?
AND IF RUSSIA DID CARRY OUT
SOMETHING LIKE THAT, WHAT COULD
UKRAINE, PERHAPS PARTNERED WITH
THE UNITED STATES, DO IN
RESPONSE?
>> WELL, CERTAINLY THE CRITICAL
INFRASTRUCTURE IS ALWAYS THE
ACHILLES HEEL OF ANY SOCIETY.
SO YOU COULD SEE MASSIVE ATTACKS
AGAINST COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS,
FUEL SYSTEMS.
WE SAW WHAT A RANSOMWARE ATTACK
DID IN THE UNITED STATES EARLIER
WHEN WE HAD A MAJOR PIPELINE
ACTUALLY SHUT DOWN FOR A PERIOD
OF TIME TO DEAL WITH A
RANSOMWARE ATTACK.
SO YOU CAN REALLY CRIPPLE AN
ECONOMY PRETTY QUICKLY WITH
CYBER.
THE DANGER, IF THE RUSSIANS WERE
TO DO THAT IN UKRAINE, IF YOU
WERE INJECTING MALWARE INTO THE
SYSTEMS THERE ISN'T NECESSARILY
A GOOD WAY TO CAN TAINONTAIN THA
THAT MALWARE COULD GO TO OTHER
SYSTEMS AROUND THE WORLD.
OTHER COUNTRIES COULD BE
IMPACTED BY THE MALWARE THAT
ISN'T GOING TO BE CONTAINED
WITHIN THE BORDERS OF UKRAINE.
THAT'S WHAT MAKES THIS SO
DANGEROUS, WE COULD SEE THE
IMPACT SPREAD QUICKLY.
IT IS A POWERFUL WEAPON AND
OFTENTIMES NOT EASY TO CONTROL
IF YOU'RE NOT CAREFUL, AND I
WOULDN'T BET THE RUSSIANS BEING
THAT CAREFUL.
IN FACT, THEY FOCUS ON THE
UNITED STATES.
>> WHAT ARE THE CAPABILITIES OF
A COUNTERATTACK?
WE ARE TALKING ABOUT CYBER
WARFARE HERE.
LET'S SAY RUSSIA SHUTS DOWN THE
ELECTRICAL GRID, IT DOES SOME OF
THE INFRASTRUCTURE ATTACKS YOU
ARE TALKING ABOUT.
THE UNITED STATES AS YOU ARE
POINTING OUT AND AS ANDREA HAS
POINTED OUT IN THE PEACE HAS
SIGNIFICANT CAPABILITIES TO
STRIKE BACK.
WHAT MIGHT IT DO IN RESPONSE?
>> I DON'T WANT TO SPECULATE ON
THAT BECAUSE YOU HAVE TO
OBVIOUSLY TAKE A LOOK AT WHAT
THE ATTACK IS AND FIGURE OUT A
COUNTERMEASURE TO LET THEM KNOW,
LET THE RUSSIANS KNOW THEY CAN'T
GET AWAY WITH THAT.
BUT CLEARLY WE HAVE SIGNIFICANT
CAPABILITIES BUT CLEAR WE DON'T
WANT TO TALK ABOUT THE SPECIFICS
OF THOSE CAPABILITIES IN THIS
TYPE OF SETTING.
>> SENATOR PETERS, GOOD MORNING.
IT IS JONATHAN LEMIRE.
FIRST, TWO NOTES.
FIRST YOU HAVE BEEN SURPRISED
RUSSIA HASN'T DONE MORE. IS THERE A SENSE IT COULD BE
IS THERE A SENSE IT COULD BE
WAITING IN RESERVE, CYBER HACKS
PERHAPS?
AND THEN TELL US ABOUT THE CYBER
BILL AND WHY IT COULD BE
BILL.
WHY IT'S IMPORTANT IN A TIME
LIKE THIS.
>> PERHAPS WE CAN SPECULATE WHY
IT WASN'T AS ROBUST AS YOU
ANTICIPATE.
PERHAPS THEY THOUGHT THEY CAN
WORK IN A KINETIC FASHION AND
MOVE SWIFTLY THROUGH UKRAINE.
CLEARLY, THAT HASN'T HAPPENED,
THEY HAVE BEEN BOGGED DOWN.
WE SALUTE THE UKRAINIAN PEOPLE
FOR THEIR INCREDIBLE COURAGE AND
DEFENSE.
THAT'S PROBABLY A SURPRISE TO
THE RUSSIANS.
SO THAT MAY HAVE MESSED UP SOME
OF THEIR PLANS.
BUT CERTAINLY, THEY HAVE THAT IN
RESERVE.
WE SHOULD BE PREPARED FOR IT.
THAT'S WHY THE LEGISLATION THAT
I SPONSORED AND WE PASSED
THROUGH THE SENATE, TO DEAL WITH
INCIDENT REPORTING IS SO
CRITICAL.
THIS IS LEGISLATION THAT WILL
REQUIRE CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE
IN THIS COUNTRY TO THE REPORT
THE.
OUR CYBER SECURITY
INFRASTRUCTURE AND SECURITY
AGENCY WITHIN THE DEPARTMENT OF
HOMELAND SECURITY WHEN THEY
ACTUALLY HAVE A CYBER ATTACK.
WE BELIEVE WE ARE NOT GETTING
THAT INFORMATION.
DO WE HAVE TO KNOW WHEN ATTACKS
ARE OCCURRING IN OUR COUNTRY, SO
WE CAN PREPARE AND IMPORTANTLY,
WARN OTHERS, THIS IS THE TYPE OF
ATTACK WE ARE UNDER GOING, LIKE
ANY BATTLEFIELD, THE FIRST THING
YOU NEED TO KNOW IS SITUATIONAL
AWARENESS, WHERE THE ENEMY IS,
WHAT WEAPONS DO THEY HAVE?
WHERE YOU ARE?
WE NEED THIS SAME KIND OF
INFORMATION IN THE CYBER DOMAIN.
THAT'S WHY THIS INCIDENT
REPORTING LEGISLATION IS
ABSOLUTELY QUICK AM.
WHY OUR NATIONAL SECURITY FOLKS
THOUGHT THIS IS A CENTRAL CYBER
SECURITY LEGISLATION, WHY WE ARE
SO HAPPY IT'S PASSED UNANIMOUSLY
OUT OF THE SENATE THIS PAST
WEEK.
WE ARE HOPING TO MOVE IT QUICKLY
THROUGH THE HOUSE SO WE CAN
CONTINUE TO BOLSTER OUR CYBER
DEFENSES.
>> YEAH, BIPARTISAN BILL, WHICH
WE SHOULD POINT OUT CO-SPONSORED
WITH ROB PORTMAN, SENIOR OF OHIO
THAT PASSED THROUGH, IT MOVES TO