WASHINGTON (Nexstar) — Federal officials warned lawmakers the cyberattack they believe was conducted by Russia may have exposed deep government secrets. The FBI and other government intelligence agencies briefed House lawmakers on the hacking Friday.
“This was malicious,” said Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX).
Lee says the recent cyberattack on the U.S. government compromised almost every agency.
“We have a cyber crisis that we need to address,” she said.
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency issued an urgent warning Thursday that hackers they suspect are from Russia tapped into classified government networks as early as March.
Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) says Congress needs to take immediate action.
“You gotta make Russia or any attacker pay a price,” Cornyn said.
Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) says federal officials don’t even know how bad it is.
“It is very broad; they don’t even know how broad it is. It is very serious. The response is going to take weeks, months,” Maloney said.
Maloney attended a closed briefing on Capitol Hill hoping for answers but didn’t find any.
“It’s a lot more questions than answers at this point,” she said.
“It was incomplete to say the least,” Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS).
Thompson says federal officials called into Friday’s briefing by phone and didn’t provide the details lawmakers were hoping to hear.
“If it is as bad as they say it is, then members of Congress want to know,” Thompson said.
Thompson says he has asked federal officials for another closed briefing on Saturday — in person.
