Senate Homeland Security Hearing for Wolf at DHS Head Barely Mentions Cyber

The Senate Homeland Security Committee’s Wednesday confirmation hearing for acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf featured almost no talk about cybersecurity, amid senators’ focus on allegations about his conduct as the department’s acting head, questions about the security of the upcoming elections and immigration. The closest Wolf got to cybersecurity talk were questions from Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, and others about election security. DHS’ Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency is “focused on cyberthreats to elections systems” and infrastructure, Wolf said. “We have been working with all 50 secretaries of state” and others to make sure the Nov. 3 election “is going to be the securest election that we’ve had to date.” The U.S. intelligence community hasn’t “attributed any cyber campaign against any election infrastructure” by a foreign government-sponsored actor, “and I think that speaks to the work that we have done” over the course of President Donald Trump’s administration, he said: “At this time” during the 2016 presidential campaign, “there were indicators and warnings that they were targeting” U.S. elections infrastructure. China, Iran and Russia remain the biggest threat to that apparatus before the contest. Those countries also remain the largest threat for disseminating disinformation and propaganda online about the election, he said in response to a question from Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H. Homeland Security plans a markup session Wednesday. It’s unclear whether that will include a vote to advance Wolf’s confirmation to the floor. Chairman Ron Johnson, R-Wis., wanted to move the confirmation process forward “as expeditiously as possible.”