U.S. Rep. August Pfluger (R-TX) said his legislation to create a unified federal process to identify state-sponsored cyber actors will protect critical American infrastructure and enhance national security.
The Cyber Deterrence and Response Act of 2025 would provide real tools that would impose costs on foreign governments and entities that target American infrastructure, networks and elections, Pfluger said.
“As cyberattacks in the United States grow more sophisticated and widespread, we must ensure the Trump administration and all future administrations have a strong framework to hold bad actors accountable and safeguard our national security,” he said. “Protecting America’s critical infrastructure from malicious cyberattacks is essential, and this bill does exactly that.”
Pfluger’s office said the legislation would direct the National Cyber Director to formally identify foreign individuals and entities responsible for significant cyberattacks against the United States; and to establish a government-wide process for cyber attribution, with clear evidentiary standards, technical verification and confidence levels. Additionally, it would impose strong sanctions against designated actors, including asset blocking, financial restrictions, export controls, procurement prohibitions, visa bans, and suspensions of assistance.
Previously, the FBI reported that more than $16 billion in U.S. economic losses from cyberattacks were driven primarily by sophisticated foreign state-sponsored actors. The agency reported that Cyberattacks against the U.S. are increasing in scale and sophistication, and that foreign actors are actively targeting the U.S. energy systems, health networks, financial institutions and election infrastructure.