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Prepared Statement of The Honorable Fred Upton CyberSecurity: Protecting America's Critical Infrastructure, Economy, and Consumers
Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet Good Morning. I would like to welcome our witnesses today as well as welcome back our subcommittee Members. Today's hearing is about cybersecurity, and what our government and the private sector are doing to prevent and mitigate attacks on our Internet infrastructure. I liken cybersecurity and the threat to our Internet infrastructure to what we've seen occur on the Gulf Coast. For years we worried that the levies in New Orleans were not strong enough to withstand a Category 5 hurricane. Then Hurricane Katrina blew through the Gulf Coast, and the eventuality that we all knew was a possibility became a reality: we saw the levies break, and we saw the devastation that such a storm could wrought. Similarly, we know that our Internet infrastructure is subject to attack every day. The unfortunate reality is that there will come a day when this country experiences a debilitating Internet disruption. The question we face now is: will we be ready? The lesson we've learned from Hurricane Katrina is that we must be ready. That is why we are here today. Normally, these types of hearings are held after a major incident. But thankfully, we are in a position to improve our current system, to examine what steps are being taken and what steps are needed to further fortify the information superhighway. Today's hearing will examine the steps being taken in the public and private sectors to make us ready. We will hear the disappointing report from the GAO that we are not quite prepared for such an attack. I hope that today's hearing will help to improve our readiness and to increase the coordination among government agencies as well as among government and private sector entities to protect our Internet infrastructure from a major disruption. I thank the witnesses for appearing today and I look forward to their testimony.
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