Washington, D.C. – Today, Ranking Member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) responded to reports that the Russians have expanded their capabilities with respect to cyber-attacks against our electric grid.

Dragos, a cybersecurity firm that studied the malware used to disrupt Ukraine’s energy grid and shut down one-fifth of the electric power generated in Kiev, released a report today revealing that the same malware could be deployed against U.S. electric transmission and distribution systems.

According to a Washington Post story, “Russian government hackers have already shown their interest in targeting U.S. energy and other utility systems.”  

In response, Sen. Cantwell said, “It’s important to have the tools in place to monitor critical infrastructure today.   We need to make the right investment to protect our grid.

On March 14^th 2017, Sen. Wyden (D-Ore.) and I sent a letter to President Trump demanding urgent action to defend American energy infrastructure against potential attacks from Russia or other foreign actors. The administration failed to respond. Instead of responsibly performing the requested assessment that today we’ve discovered is more necessary than ever, the administration has proposed slashing funding to the very offices tasked with protecting our grid from Russian cyber attack.”