Clay Higgins Sounds The Alarm On 'Irreversible Impact' Of Lacking Cybersecurity Protections

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During a House Oversight Committee hearing, Rep. Clay Higgins (R-LA) asked witnesses about cybersecurity measures for US businesses.

Transcript

00:00I look forward to answering any questions you may have.

00:01Thank you, Mr. Danbrott.

00:02And like the regular members said,

00:04thank you for skipping your family vacation

00:06for a little bit to be with us.

00:07This is a very important hearing.

00:09Members will be recognized by order of seniority

00:11for their five minutes of questioning.

00:13Additional round of questioning will be called

00:14after members have been recognized.

00:16I now recognize the gentleman from Louisiana,

00:19Mr. Higgins, for five minutes of questions.

00:22Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

00:23And I thank you for the indulgence

00:25of a committee across campus I need to get to.

00:28It's super important.

00:31Gentlemen, thank you for being here.

00:35I've been involved in a bit of an investigative effort

00:40regarding a particular phenomenon

00:46that's happening across the country

00:49that I would like Mr. Fayle

00:51and Mr. Chinanagang Anagherty to address, please.

00:56The purchase of infrastructure businesses

01:06and businesses related to key infrastructure

01:09in our country.

01:10We're talking about the energy sector,

01:12financial sector, transportation sector,

01:14agricultural sector, supply chain sector,

01:17the tech sector, the defense sector,

01:20the medical sector,

01:21the research and development sector.

01:24The thousands of companies across the country

01:27that are many or small businesses

01:30with a handful of employees

01:32or under 100 employees.

01:34The kind of company that can go under the radar

01:38if it's bought or sold.

01:42These companies are being bought by equity firms

01:45across the country.

01:47And I'm advised that one of the first actions

01:51under the restructuring

01:55by these equity firms

01:58that purchase these key businesses,

02:00of course, they're buying them legally.

02:02You understand?

02:03It's not a big deal.

02:04Maybe a small story in local news.

02:07But one of the first actions I'm being told

02:11is to eliminate the cybersecurity contracts

02:17of those companies.

02:19And they own these companies for a period of time.

02:23It's an equity firm.

02:24They're not interested in that trucking company

02:27or that energy sector company

02:29or that financial sector company.

02:32They're interested in building equity

02:35in that company and then what?

02:40Reselling it, right?

02:43So over the course of weeks or months

02:45or maybe a year or two,

02:48they'll own this company as an investment.

02:50They have shut down cybersecurity.

02:54Then they resell it.

02:56And the guys that buy it say,

02:58wow, this company has no cybersecurity.

03:00We have to establish that cybersecurity.

03:03This is of great concern to me

03:06because what the hell happens

03:09if we had many of these equity firms

03:12have Chinese investors

03:14or connections with Chinese business?

03:20So, you know, we're living in a world

03:22of intense cyber threat.

03:26And with the introduction of AI

03:27and its emergence,

03:29how it plugs into cybersecurity,

03:31it's of great concern to me.

03:33So I'm happy to have a panel of experts

03:35in front of me.

03:36Mr. Fayl,

03:38what would be,

03:39this is my question to both you gentlemen,

03:41what would be the irreversible impact

03:43of key businesses

03:45connected to our crucial infrastructure

03:49across this country

03:50going without cybersecurity protection

03:54for weeks or months

03:56sort of under the radar

03:57about kind of what would happen

03:59in that timeframe?

04:03So thank you for the question,

04:05Representative Higgins.

04:07I think I would start by suggesting

04:10that cyber adversaries at the moment

04:13appear to be very little deterred

04:16by cyber defenses

04:18that have been employed

04:19by small businesses

04:21and critical infrastructure.

04:22Hold on, let me stop you there.

04:26Let's not judge

04:27the quality of the cybersecurity

04:29with a broad brush.

04:32We're talking about

04:34the elimination of cybersecurity

04:36from a company

04:37that gets bought by an equity firm.

04:41You think that's no problem?

04:43Absolutely, it is a problem.

04:45I think it's indicative

04:46of a broader problem

04:48of inattention to cybersecurity

04:50in general

04:50and adversaries have been

04:53often not deterred by efforts.

04:56We all need to do more.

04:57Okay, so the gentleman agrees

04:59that generally that it's a problem.

05:02Mr. Chinindagang Anagari.

05:05I do agree with that

05:06and there's a huge security risk

05:08by having these type of protections

05:11taken away from small businesses

05:12when they're either acquired

05:14or merged with other companies

05:15and that if that small company

05:18is actually doing business

05:19with the critical sector,

05:21especially with government,

05:23that gives them an attack vector

05:24for a hacker to get into it.

05:27So it has to be protected.

05:29Mr. Chairman,

05:30thank you for this hearing.

05:31Thank you for your indulgence.

05:33My time has well expired.

05:34Mr. Rankin member, thank you.

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