Three House lawmakers have asked the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Intelligence and Analysis and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency for a briefing on threats posed by domestic violent extremists to the U.S. energy sector and other critical infrastructure.
The legislators wrote a letter to Kenneth Wainstein, undersecretary for intelligence and analysis at DHS, and CISA Director and 2023 Wash100 Award recipient Jen Easterly about a joint intelligence bulletin issued by the FBI and DHS on racially- or ethnically- motivated violent extremists seeking to target critical infrastructure and a disrupted plot by neo-Nazis to attack electric facilities in Baltimore, Maryland.
The congressional members also want I&A and CISA to provide information on how they work together to ensure the security of critical infrastructure and assess potential threats to the energy sector and the role of RMVEs in perpetuating such threats.
“Additionally, we would like to understand evolving cybersecurity threats to the energy sector, such as the PIPEDREAM malware, and how domestic extremists might seek to exploit cyber vulnerabilities for ideological purposes,” the Feb. 17 letter reads.
The letter was signed by Reps. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., ranking member of the House Homeland Security Committee; Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., ranking member of the House panel’s subcommittee on cybersecurity and infrastructure protection; and Seth Magaziner, D-R.I., ranking member of the subcommittee on counterterrorism, law enforcement and intelligence.
