US cyber attack: 'Grave risk' for private sector, infrastructure, federal government
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Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, raised concerns about a recent cyber-breach that has compromised vast swaths of the federal government, as well as the security of major corporations, think tanks and other key American institutions.
"It is an extraordinary invasion of our cyberspace," Romney told NBC News' "Meet the Press" Sunday. "I mean, they basically have the capacity to know what we're doing. They even got into the agency that's responsible for our nuclear capacities, for our research with regards to nuclear weaponry," the senator emphasized.
© NICHOLAS KAMM, AFP via Getty ImagesRepublican Senator from Utah Mitt Romney speaks to reporters outside the Senate Chamber at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on September 21, 2020.
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, the nation's top cyber command, warned that multiple federal agencies and "critical infrastructure" were compromised in the attack.
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Dozens of federal agencies, most Fortune 500 companies and other private sector firms, as well as critical utilities and infrastructure across the country, were also compromised in what officials are calling a "grave risk" to national security.
While each institution is now scrambling to patch up their networks after the news, it is still possible that hackers placed further vulnerabilities in systems that will need to be discovered.
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"This is an extraordinarily damaging invasion and it went on for a long, long time," Romney said.
The attackers infiltrated federal computer systems through a common piece of server software offered through a company called SolarWinds.
The hack was likely perpetrated by Russian-backed agents, according to national security officials. The news has renewed calls for a more forceful U.S. cyber-posture against the country's geopolitical rivals.
"I think we have to be much more serious about our cyber capabilities - offensive and defensive. I think we have to have a rethink about that at the Department of Defense, as well as our other agencies," Romney urged. "And I think we have to have a very clear-eyed approach to how we deal with Russia going forward."
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In November, President Donald Trump fired CISA chief Chris Krebs for denouncing claims that the 2020 election was compromised by foreign actors.
Officials at the departments of Commerce, Energy, Homeland Security, Treasury and the National Security Council also acknowledged their systems were breached. Officials have widely called it the worst and most wide-reaching hack in American history.
"You can bring a country to its knees if people don't have electricity, don't have water and can't communicate," Romney cautioned. "What Russia appears to have done is put themselves in those systems in our country. They don't need rockets to take those things out," he warned.
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"They potentially have the capacity to cripple us economically, they went to our businesses. They have the potential to also cripple us with regards to our water and electricity and so forth. So, this is very, very serious," Romney stressed.
While many analysts and national security officials have stressed the unprecedented danger of the security vulnerability, the Trump administration has sent mixed messages on its severity.
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Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that the breach was a "very significant effort" that was "pretty likely" perpetrated by Russia during an interview on the Mark Levin Show, President Trump has downplayed the revelations, insisting "everything is well under control."
Romney condemned the "inexcusable silence and inaction from the White House" on the issue during an interview with Sirius XM.
During his Meet the Press interview, Romney called Trump's comments a "disappointment" but said it was typical of a president who "doesn't want to recognize Russia for the problem that they are."
President-elect Joe Biden has also condemned Trump's downplaying of the situation, promising a potent response in the incoming administration.
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"A good defense isn't enough; we need to disrupt and deter our adversaries from undertaking significant cyberattacks in the first place," Biden said Thursday. "I will not stand idly by in the face of cyberassaults on our nation."
On current U.S. cyber policy, Romney observed that "Russia acted with impunity" because they "they didn't fear what we would be able to do from a cyber capacity." The senator argued the provocation "demands a response" but wasn't sure "if we have the capacity to do that in a way that would be of the same scale or an even greater scale."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'They potentially have the capacity to cripple us': Romney raises alarm about cyber-attack tied to Russia