Legislation recently introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives would combat growing cyber threats from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) against critical infrastructure.
The Strengthening Cyber Resilience Against State-Sponsored Threats Act would create an interagency task force tasked with addressing the cybersecurity threats posed by People’s Republic of China-sponsored cyber actors including Volt Typhoon.
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and the Federal Bureau of Investigation would lead the task force.
“The CCP, acting through Volt Typhoon and other threat actors, has made a concerted effort to pre-position itself within our networks in order to target and compromise the critical infrastructure Americans rely on every day––from the transportation and water sectors to the energy sector,” U.S. Rep. Laurel Lee (R-FL), who introduced the bill, said. “While individual agencies have worked to examine and address the threats posed by malign cyber actors like Volt Typhoon, a siloed approach to cybersecurity will only give our adversaries the upper hand. It is critical that the federal government implements a focused, coordinated, and whole-of-government response to all of Beijing’s cyber threats, so no other actors succeed.”
The bill also would requires the task force to provide Congress with an annual classified report and briefing on findings, conclusions, and recommendations relating to malicious CCP cyber activity.