WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, in a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine), highlighted the U.S. military’s dramatic need for deterrence strategies against cyberattacks – one of his key concerns as co-chair of the Cyberspace Solarium Commission. Later in the hearing, Senator King noted that the United States should focus its resources on combatting emerging threats, such as Russia’s development of “nightmare weapon” hypersonic missiles.

“Let me focus on a particular issue of deterrence that I’ve been doing a lot of work on, and am puzzling about, and that is cyber deterrence,” said Senator King. “And particularly cyber deterrence, I would call it below the threshold of catastrophe, in other words, a cyberattack that disables our entire electric grid I think everyone would agree deserves a clear and unequivocal response. What about a cyberattack that freezes the voter registration lists in Florida a week before the election? How do we deter those kinds of attacks? My sense is we’ve had Sony, we’ve had OPM, we’ve had 2016 with very little if any substantive response, and that our adversaries don’t fear us, to put it most bluntly in terms of cyberattacks on this country.”

Mr. John Rood,  the Under Secretary Of Defense For Policy responded by recognizing Senator King’s leadership on cyber deterrence policy: “Yes Senator, and I recall you raising this with me during my confirmation visit with you, and it’s something you’ve been a leader on in pursuing this type of activity. I would say since that time, you and I met two years ago, we have put in place now a cyberstrategy and one of the primary aspects of that is it calls for defending forward. We will no longer wait, if we’re observing indications of planning for an attack, for an adversary to spring that attack. 

+++

Later, Senator King mentioned the new threats that the U.S. faces as Russia develops new defenses.

“Are we adequately confronting new threats, drone swarms, hypersonics, cyber?” Senator King asked. “Here’s an example, and it gets back to money, and we’re talking about how much we’re spending. We’re spending twice as much as China and Russia combined…But still, we’re spending ten times what Russia spends; [Vladimir] Putin can hire 12,000 hackers for the cost of one jet fighter, and I think all would agree that what he did in 2016 was a pretty effective attack on our country… I think the area of technology and confronting emerging threats is a real area where there has to be some good strategic thinking and investments.”

In addition to Mr. Rood, today’s hearing featured testimony from Lieutenant U.S. Air Force General David Allvin, the Joint Staff Director For Strategy, Plans And Policy. As a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Senator King is recognized as a leading voice on national security and foreign policy issues in the Senate. In addition to his committee work, he serves on the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, the Senate North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Observer Group, and the Cyberspace Solarium Commission. 

During his time in the Senate, Senator King has been a strong advocate for functional and effective cyberpolicy, and deterring cyberattacks on American elections and everyday life. Senator King and U.S. Senator Jim Risch (R-Idaho) introduced the Securing Energy Infrastructure Act, which was passed by both the Senate and the House of Representatives in July as part of each chamber’s version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).

In late May, Senator King cosponsored the Election Security Act, which would require voter-verifiable backup paper ballots and provide election security grants to states for cyber improvements and audits. Earlier that month, he highlighted the factors that could lead to election cybersecurity issues to members of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC), the commission who provide best practices when certifying voting machines. In March, Senator King sent a letter to the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) requesting information about NERC’s efforts to protect the United States’ bulk power system from supply chain vulnerabilities, particularly those posed by vendors from Russia and China. In a February hearing, Senator King emphasized the need for urgent action, and questioned NERC President and CEO James Robb about the dangers of foreign equipment in America’s energy grid.