Chris Van Hollen – WindowsTechs.com

Sen. Van Hollen: Government sees no EternalBlue in Baltimore ransomware attack

Posted on June 4, 2019 by Shannon Vavra

A second lawmaker from Maryland now says it doesn’t appear that the ransomware attack in Baltimore relied on a stolen National Security Agency exploit, EternalBlue. “It’s the federal government’s view that EternalBlue was not involved in the ransomware attack in Baltimore City,” Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen told CyberScoop on Monday following a briefing on Capitol Hill from NSA officials. The briefing was organized following requests from officials who sought details on whether the government’s own exploit, which was exposed in a 2017 leak from the NSA, had been used in an attack that hobbled Baltimore for weeks. The New York Times reported May 25 that EternalBlue was used to spread the ransomware, known as RobbinHood, across networks in Baltimore and in several other American cities. Van Hollen joined Democratic Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger in his assessment, which was based on a separate briefing from the NSA last week, that the government has determined EternalBlue was not […]

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D.C. Metro system beefs up supply-chain cybersecurity provisions for new railcars

Posted on February 6, 2019 by Sean Lyngaas

The Washington, D.C., area’s Metro system, in response to U.S. senators who raised security concerns about a new line of railcars, now says it will use the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s cybersecurity framework to vet software and hardware proposed for the project. Bidders on the railcar procurement, worth an estimated $1 billion and covering up to 800 railcars, also will have to show evidence that a third party tested their software or hardware, Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority CEO Paul J. Wiedefeld said Wednesday. The NIST framework — used widely throughout other industries and government agencies — is a key part of the updated request for proposal, Wiedefeld wrote in a letter to Democratic senators from Virginia and Maryland. “We are confident that these approaches will impose appropriate controls that limit any malicious actor’s ability to embed malware and for WMATA to monitor and enforce security requirements,” Wiedefeld wrote to […]

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Senators worry that new D.C. Metro railcars could carry cyber risk

Posted on January 21, 2019 by Sean Lyngaas

Senators who represent the Washington, D.C., area have raised concerns about added cybersecurity risks in the region’s Metro system after reports that a Chinese state-owned manufacturing company could win a $1 billion procurement for railcars. The four Democrats – Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine of Virginia, and Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen of Maryland – wrote to the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority expressing their “serious concerns” of possible foreign bidding on the project, “particularly when it could involve foreign governments that have explicitly sought to undermine our country’s economic competitiveness and national security.” The Jan. 18 letter to WMATA CEO Paul J. Wiedefeld, the lawmakers exhorted him to “take the necessary steps to mitigate growing cyber risks to these cars.” The worry is that technology in the transit system, including video surveillance cameras and the automated aspects of railcars, could be a target of spies or hackers. The state-owned China Railway […]

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Two bills seek transparency in ownership of election vendors

Posted on October 12, 2018 by Zaid Shoorbajee

Senators introduced a pair of bills Thursday that would crack down on foreign ownership of election systems in the U.S., as the government continues to try to mitigate supply chain risk. Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., announced the Protect Our Elections Act and the Election Systems Integrity Act, both of which would set restrictions and reporting requirements around foreign ownership and operation of election systems. The former has bipartisan backing, with co-sponsorships from Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Ben Cardin D-Md. The latter is also backed by Cardin and Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn. The two bills overlap significantly in scope. Asked why they’re separate, a spokesperson for Van Hollen said that one deals with disclosure while the other would issue a ban. The Protect Our Elections Act would outlaw foreign ownership of election systems, specifically ones that deal with voting, tabulation, voter registration and communication systems for election agency. The bill would […]

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Senators want Commerce to help U.S. firms ditch ZTE

Posted on June 26, 2018 by Sean Lyngaas

A bipartisan trio of senators have asked the Department of Commerce to clarify that U.S. companies are welcome to remove products from their networks made by controversial Chinese telecom company ZTE. Republican Sens. Tom Cotton, Ark., and Marco Rubio, Fla., along with Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., say they strongly support the department’s April “denial order” barring ZTE from buying U.S. technology components for seven years. However, the senators are concerned that the order is ambiguous to the point of hindering the removal of ZTE gear from U.S. infrastructure. On Monday, they wrote Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross asking his department to issue guidance and waivers to help U.S. companies clear their networks of ZTE software and hardware. U.S. officials have long warned that the Chinese government could leverage technology built by ZTE and fellow Chinese telecom Huawei to spy on Americans – accusations the companies deny. The Commerce Department […]

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ZTE ban, tucked inside the NDAA, passes the Senate

Posted on June 19, 2018 by Patrick Howell O'Neill

The $716 billion National Defense Authorization Act passed the U.S. Senate on Monday, including an amendment that kills a deal the Trump administration made with China that effectively saved telecommunications firm ZTE. The bill still has a long way to go. The House of Representatives’ version, which omits the ZTE Ban, has to be reconciled with the Senate version. Additionally, the White House strongly opposes the measure. Despite the process ahead, the amendment’s backers are taking the NDAA’s passage as a victory. “We’re heartened that both parties made it clear that protecting American jobs and national security must come first when making deals with countries like China, which has a history of having little regard for either,” Sens. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., Tom Cotton, R-Ark, Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Chris Van Hollen, D-Md. said in a statement. “It is vital that our colleagues in the House keep this bipartisan provision in the bill as […]

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Potential Trump deal to ease sanctions on China’s ZTE riles Congress

Posted on May 22, 2018 by Patrick Howell O'Neill

U.S. lawmakers are preparing to block any attempt by President Donald Trump to significantly soften sanctions against the Chinese telecom giant ZTE. While Trump said Tuesday that a deal has yet to be finalized, members of Congress continued to take a hard line against the company, which the Commerce Department banned from accessing U.S. technology after it sold equipment to Iran and North Korea. Chinese President Xi Jinping has been pushing Trump to relax the U.S. stance while American lawmakers, intelligence agencies and military officials have been emphasizing the longstanding national security grievances against the Chinese firm. The reported deal would lift the American sales ban against ZTE. In light of all the criticism, Trump’s potential solution “is like a wet noodle,” Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York said. The latest strike against ZTE — which admitted wrongdoing and blamed internal processes on failing to fire sanctions violators rather than intentional malice — sent shock waves through the […]

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House funding bill for DHS follows Trump plan to cut research and science offices

Posted on July 13, 2017 by Shaun Waterman

The Homeland Security spending bill advancing in the House of Representatives follows the Trump administration’s budget request in proposing severe cuts on the department’s Science and Technology Directorate — slashing the research programs and technology development facilities that it runs, including its national laboratories. Although the bill, which covers appropriations for DHS for fiscal 2018, has a long way to go before it becomes law, the administration is already moving ahead with the cuts, preparing to shutter three of its five national labs. The cuts have drawn protests from former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge and Democrats in the House and Senate. The National Biodefense Analysis and Countermeasures Center (NBACC) at Fort Detrick in Frederick, Maryland, and the Chemical Security Analysis Center (CSAC) at the Aberdeen Proving Ground in Aberdeen, Maryland, are both on the chopping block. The National Urban Security Technology Laboratory, which has an office in New York City and Oakbrook Terrace, Illinois, is also […]

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