WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine), co-chair of the Cyberspace Solarium Commission, today questioned Secretary of Energy, Jennifer Granholm, on the importance of preparedness in the case of national security disaster caused by a debilitating cyberattack. During a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Senator King sought confirmation from Secretary Granholm that she would support modernization of the nation’s nuclear deterrence technologies, and commit to working to keep nuclear weapons out of the hands of non-state actors.

SENATOR KING: “I hope you will be brutal in testing, and really working the cyber protection within the agency. The federal government is notorious for being cyber vulnerable. And one of the only ways to protect against that is individual desktop cyberhygiene. So I hope that you will test your employees, to be sure that they are not responding to phishing emails, that they are not clicking on attachments that they shouldn’t. It seems mundane, but 85-90% of cyber-attacks could be prevented by just straightforward, simple, cyber-hygiene at the desktop. I want you to appoint somebody whose job it is to expose vulnerabilities within the Department.”

SECRETARY GRANHOLM: “Yes we have actually appointed a new CIO and this is exactly what we are focused on.”

SENATOR KING: “Final question, deterrence doesn’t work with non-state actors. That’s where nonproliferation comes in. We have to be concerned into the future about non-state actors getting ahold of nuclear materials. And so it’s critical that your Department works closely with the Intelligence Community, with the entire nonproliferation governmental structure because, as I say, our whole strategy rests upon deterrence, but deterrence doesn’t work for a half dozen people who are perfectly willing to die to bring a nuclear weapon into New York harbor. So, please commit to me that you are going to remain committed and keep your eye on nonproliferation, because that’s got to be part of our strategy.”

SECRETARY GRANHOLM: “Absolutely.”

Senator King also serves as Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee Subcommittee on Strategic Forces – which oversees the United States’ nuclear posture worldwide. In addition to his committee assignments, Senator King serves on the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, the Senate North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Observer Group, and is co-chair of the Cyberspace Solarium Commission. He voted in favor of the Senate’s passage of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2021, which includes several funding and policy priorities advocated for by Senator King to support military facilities and communities in Maine and advance the national defense. The legislation – containing 25 bipartisan cybersecurity recommendations from the Cyberspace Solarium Commission – became law earlier this year after Senator King and the overwhelming majority of his colleagues voted to override former President Trump’s veto.