Politicians at the DEF CON hacking conference implored ethical hackers to take up the fight against serious cyber attacks — something they said the United States is still underprepared for.
According to this article from The Register, a UK-based publication, US representatives Ted Lieu (D-CA) and James Langevin (D-IL) were joined by hackers Cris Thomas, aka Space Rogue, and Jen Ellis (Infosecjen), in a discussion regarding the state of government preparedness for serious cyber attacks.
And the US is not prepared, says one of four trained computer scientists in US Congress.
“When a crisis hits, it’s too late for Congress to act. We are very weak on a federal level, nearly 20 years after Space Rogue warned us we’re still there,” The Register’s article quotes Lieu.
Hackers say Trump administration isn’t helping
Thomas says the current administration is moving backwards, having placed less of a priority on IT security than past administrations, according to The Register.
Former Representative for California Jane Harman agreed, saying Donald Trump fired his homeland security advisor, Tom Bossert — though Bossert in truth resigned from the position.
What to do about serious cyber attacks?
It’s not enough to sit on the sideline and moan, she told the crowd. Instead it’s time for the community to get out there and make a difference.
Lieu also said he was hopeful that hackers would take up the torch and warned attendees not to give up, because change could come in surprising ways.
Read Next: The 5 Biggest Data Breaches in 2019 So Far (And How They Could Have Been Prevented)
“In politics everything seems impossible until it happens,” he joked. “10 years ago if you’d told me people in some states would be smoking legal weed I’d never thought it would happen. And yet here we are.”
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