WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senator Angus King, who serves as the Co-Chair of the Cyberspace Solarium Commission, today pressed the Intelligence Community on the importance of integrating cyber deterrence into the U.S.’ National Security Strategy. In a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC), King asked Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines about the need to prioritize cyber deterrence in today’s threat landscape and also raised questions about election threats from Russia ahead of the 2024 elections, emphasizing previous Russian disruption during the 2016 and 2020 elections.

According to new research from Microsoft’s Threat Analysis Center, Russian influence operations targeting the 2024 elections have ramped up in recent months, spreading disinformation and using fake online accounts and bots to shift voter opinions.

Senator King began his line of questioning by making clear the immediate need for a layered cyber deterrence approach integrated into intelligence strategies to better protect critical infrastructures.

“First, I want to thank you, Director Haines, for starting with an emphasis on cyber. The truth is, we are in an invisible war on many fronts on cyber already. As you outlined, everything from ransomware, to attacks on SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition) systems, to the insertion of sleeper cells in critical infrastructure. You also emphasize, rightly, the fact that it’s got to start with the desktop and personal cyber hygiene is quickly important,” began Senator King.

“However, particularly on these state-sponsored potential attacks — well I would say they have already occurred on our critical infrastructure — we are not going to be able to patch our way out of that. And you sort of slid by this in your opening comments, but these state adversaries have to be deterred, do they not? They got to understand that we hold their systems at risk. That has got to be part of our strategy. It cannot just be patching and cyber hygiene. Do you agree,” finished Senator King.

“I do. I think the deterrence does not necessarily have to be holding their systems at risk from a cyber perspective alone. It is part of an integrated strategy,” responded Director Haines.

“That’s right, but they have to feel that there are risks and that there will be costs imposed if they move in this direction. Otherwise, it’s a low-cost kind of warfare to which we are very vulnerable,” said Senator King.

“Yes,” agreed Director Haines.

Later in the hearing, Senator King touched on threats from Russian organizations that have been ramping up election interference efforts in recent months.

“Do you see heightened Russian activity with regards to the upcoming elections,” asked Senator King.

“Yes. We are consistently — obviously, the last several intelligence community assessments we have done on election threats have identified Russia as, really, the main actor in this space. And we continue to see them focused on this and increasingly so,” replied Director Haines.

“Well, one of the things that worries me is in 2016 and 2018, we saw them penetrating something like 40 state’s electoral systems in terms of databases of voters and that kind of thing. They never did anything with it. But, my contention has been they were not doing that for fun. There is a great potential for disrupting our elections simply by erasing a voter database in Miami or having the lights go out in Atlanta. Assess that risk, please,” said Senator King.

“I think there is no question they are increasing their capacity and that they are developing and using new technologies that are available and getting better at doing what they have done before and, ultimately, pursuing the potential for such altering. As you say, though, they haven’t done it,” responded Director Haines.

“And, what I would also say is that I agree — General Nakasone, before he left, indicated that he thought that we were never better prepared to actually defend our election security infrastructure. And, I think, honestly, the intelligence community, and in particular NSA and others, have really done tremendous work in this area and CYBERCOM is consistently engaged in both defensive and offensive work in this area to try to protect,” concluded Director Haines.

In addition to serving on the Armed Services Committee, King serves on the Senate Select Intelligence Committee (SSCI) and is the Co-Chair of the Cyberspace Solarium Commission (CSC). He is recognized as one of Congress’ leading experts on cyber defense and as a strong advocate for a forward-thinking cyber strategy that emphasizes layered cyber deterrence. Since the CSC officially launched in April 2019, dozens of CSC recommendations have been enacted into law, including the creation of a National Cyber Director. Previously, King has cosponsored legislation to shield American elections from threats by improving election cybersecurity and combatting foreign interference in U.S. democracy. He has also urged the Biden Administration to fund selection security efforts by allocating federal funds to modernize voting equipment and strengthen cybersecurity for election systems. In 2020, the Senate Intelligence Committee released a report from a bipartisan panel detailing aggressive Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election.

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