Katko on ABC News: U.S. Must Prioritize Cybersecurity

WASHINGTON, DC – Rep. John Katko (R-NY), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Homeland Security, joined ABC News Prime to discuss the recent ransomware attack on Colonial Pipeline Company and emphasize the need to secure critical infrastructure networks from cyber attacks.

Click here to watch. 

Highlights:

Pre-eminent Threat: “We need to take a look at this Colonial Pipeline attack and see that this is one in a long line of ransomware attacks on our country. We’ve had attacks on hospitals and schools, and now they’re going to critical infrastructure. I think this is a major shot across the bow to tell us as a country to wake up to the fact that cybersecurity is a pre-eminent threat to our national security right now.”

Reprioritizing Cybersecurity: “Going forward, we need to do a stem to stern reevaluation of and a reprioritization of securing critical infrastructure not just from physical attacks, but from cyber attacks. It’s such an important thing to do, and I introduced a bill to deal with just that issue.”

Continuity of Economy: “Last year, we had something pass in the National Defense Authorization Act called the Continuity of [the Economy]. The Administration is mandated by that bill to come up with a plan to ensure there’s continuity of the economy when there’s cyber attacks to critical infrastructure. We have to understand it’s a threat that could metastasize if we don’t deal with it effectively. We need to really prioritize cybersecurity going forward.”

Bipartisan Consensus: “Bipartisanship is the norm on the Homeland Security Committee. Chairman Bennie Thompson and I have a lot of different views on a lot of different things, but we love our country like everyone else in Congress. That transcends everything we do on Homeland Security. That’s why Bennie and I together are going to attack these cybersecurity issues.”

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