Wolf shines light on cyber attacks at GMU hearing

At a field hearing of the U.S.-China Security and Economic Review Commission on the Prince William Campus of George Mason University in Manassas, Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA), who represents this area, expressed his concerns about what he sees as the growing cyber threat from China, according to a news release.

Wolf, whose office computers were hacked by the Chinese in 2006, successfully pushed to prioritize cybersecurity programs in the fiscal year 2012 Commerce-Justice-Science (CJS) Appropriations bill, including providing significant increases to the FBI’s joint cyber task force, the release said.

In addition, Wolf, the chairman of the House Appropriations CJS subcommittee, directed the FBI to produce an annual unclassified cyber report and required each federal agency under the subcommittee’s jurisdiction to vet its IT equipment purchases. According to the news release, Wolf said he plans to take even more significant steps in the fiscal year 2013 bill that is currently under development, including adopting many of China commission’s recommendations to deal with the threat.

Last week, Wolf told the House of Representatives of his growing concern about Chinese technology giant Huawei’s links to the Peoples Liberation Army and Chinese intelligence services as it aggressively pursues a greater market share in the United States.  Wolf’s remarks came one day after The Wall Street Journal reported that Huawei has “almost doubled its work force over the past five years as it strives to become a mobile technology heavyweight.”

Wolf cited an Associated Press report in this morning’s Washington Post that stated Australia has banned Huawei from bidding to help build a nationwide high-speed Internet network due to concern about cyber attacks traced to China, according to the news release.