07.26.21

Durbin: Ransomware Is A Growing Threat To Our Economic And National Security

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today spoke on the Senate floor about the threat that ransomware attacks pose to our economic and national security.  Tomorrow, July 27 at 10:00 AM ET, the Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing entitled “America Under Cyber Siege: Preventing and Responding to Ransomware Attacks,” during which experts from the Department of Justice, the FBI, CISA, and the Secret Service will discuss efforts to prevent and respond to this growing threat.

“Many Americans had a rude awakening about this threat earlier this year when a cyber crime syndicate used ransomware to shut down the largest petroleum pipeline in the United States: the Colonial Pipeline,” Durbin said. “That started a panic that had people lining up at gas stations for hours and put ransomware into plain view to all Americans… Tomorrow we will discuss it at length.”

Video of Durbin’s floor speech is available here.

Audio of Durbin’s floor speech is available here.

Footage of Durbin’s floor speech is available here for TV Stations.

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