FBI to Work With Senate Committee Over Kaseya Cyberattack

The FBI needs to provide a complete briefing to the Senate Homeland Security Committee on why the agency held back the digital key associated with the Kaseya cyberattack (see 2109010005), Chairman Gary Peters, D-Mich., said during a hearing Tuesday. Director Christopher Wray said the bureau will work with the committee to provide more information, but some of the communication should be done in a classified setting. Peters questioned why the FBI reportedly held back the digital key for unlocking computers of hundreds of businesses and organizations subject to the Kaseya attack. He asked why the FBI didn’t share the key sooner, which might have helped avoid some recovery costs. Wray said the investigation is ongoing so he’s limited in what he can say, but generally, encryption keys require a lot of testing and validation: “That takes time.” Decisions are made jointly with agencies like the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, said Wray. Ranking member Rob Portman, Ohio, agreed with the “necessity” for the committee to have all information “on the cyber front.”