State Department deputy secretary Heather Higginbottom testified on Capitol Hill today that the State Department is routinely cyber-attacked. “We are attacked every day, thousands of times a day,” Higginbottom said in response to questioning from Georgia senator David Perdue.
Perdue asked, “Today, I’d like you to focus on this I.T. issue with me just a minute. You know, it looks like there are thousands of administrators that work for State, who might or might have access to independent investigations, as well as it looked to me like yesterday when we asked the question if there was a breach in the state system, the I.G. wouldn’t necessarily know it immediately.
“Mr. Linick actually testified yesterday that the State network has actually been attacked and that it affected the Office of the Inspector General. He also told us that it took over six months to get an agreement with Diplomatic Security. Going forward, they’ll notify the OIG when they go on their I.T. network. That’s a Memo of Understanding, as I understand it. And with the change of administration, that may or may not be continued into the next administration. Would you comment on this I.T. independence issue and also Right of First Refusal, as well as this potential breach issue?”
Higginbottom responded, “Yes. Thank you, Senator. And I have enjoyed our conversations. Look forward to continuing them. I meet, as you know, with the I.G. every week. We discuss issues, like the ones you just raised. We worked through the issue of trying to get an MOU so that there was notification of any entry onto the system.
“Just recently, the I.G. has brought to my attention, as well as to the secretary’s the request for a separate I.T. system. We’re looking at that very carefully. We’re seeking to understand how it would work. They need to have as he testified yesterday, some access to the systems they currently have. The architecture, we have to make sure our system is as secure as it possibly can be, given — we are attacked every day, thousands of times a day. So we have to work — those are difficult issues, but we’re looking at that now and examining it. It’s also important that we understand the costs.”
Perdue responded, “I’m sorry to interrupt. Have you actually had a breach that you can talk about?”
“I can tell you, Senator, that we have been breached, this has been reported. Any further details of that, I’d be happy to have in a different setting,” said Higginbottom.
