Peters, Portman Seek Answers About Federal Response to SolarWinds

The federal government needs to provide answers on why it didn’t detect the SolarWinds cyberattack, despite significant investment, Senate Homeland Security Committee Chairman Gary Peters, D-Mich., and ranking member Rob Portman, R-Ohio, wrote the Department of Homeland Security and OMB Tuesday (see 2103190014). “Despite significant investments in cyber defenses, the federal government did not initially detect this cyberattack,” they wrote. U.S. cyber strategy will “require careful consideration of the appropriate role of the federal government, companies, and citizens in cyber defense, especially when it comes to nation-state actors with near unlimited resources and time.” The agencies didn’t comment.