U.S. Rep. Greg Walden (R-OR), chairman of the House Subcommittee on Communications and Technology, and U.S. Rep. Michael C. Burgess (R-TX), chairman of the House Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade recently scheduled a joint hearing on Nov. 16 to examine the role of connected devices in recent cyber attacks.
The hearing was scheduled in the wake of a Oct. 21 distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack on the servers of Dynamic Network Services, Inc. (Dyn), which provides domain routing services for popular U.S.-based websites such as Facebook, Netflix and PayPal.
The subcommittees will examine how Internet of Things (IoT)-connected devices were utilized in the cyberattack to deny access to those websites and disrupt online services.
“Internet connectivity remains a vital part of our economic well-being and our national security,” the House members said. “Americans should not have to worry that the convenience and connectivity of the Internet of Things comes at the expense of the resiliency and reliability of the larger Internet. Next week’s hearing provides our members with an opportunity to learn more about the recent cyberattacks, how cyberattacks are evolving, and what can be done to mitigate future attacks and risks.”