US lawmakers ask for documents on hacking of nuclear laboratories
Lawmakers in the United States have called for the Department of Energy to release documents detailing the targeting of American nuclear laboratories allegedly by Russian hackers last year.
The demand was made on Thursday by the Republican chairmen of the House oversight and science committees following a Reuters news agency report last month that claimed the Russian hacking group known as Cold River targeted the Brookhaven, Argonne and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories over the summer.
"Although it is unclear whether the attempted intrusions were successful, it is alarming that a hostile foreign adversary targeted government labs working on scientific research critical to the national security and competitiveness of the United States," House Committee on Oversight Chairman James Comer and House Committee on Science Chairman Frank Lucas said in a joint statement released to reporters on Thursday.
Russia has previously denounced the Reuters report, calling it anti-Russian propaganda.
In December 2020, Politico reported the US nuclear weapons agency was targeted by hackers as part of a massive cyber security breach against federal agencies and critical infrastructure.
Politico reported that hackers targeted the Department of Energy and its National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), which secures the US nuclear weapons stockpile.
The attack was part of a massive cyber campaign that affected at least half a dozen federal agencies, including the Treasury, State, Defense and Commerce Departments, according to Bloomberg.
The US has a total of 3,800 nuclear weapons, many of which were produced during the early years of the Cold War and are overseen by the NNSA.
Then-US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo suggested Moscow’s involvement but Russia dismissed any such allegation as baseless.
Then-US President-elect Joe Biden described the cybersecurity breach as a matter of great concern, saying his team would impose “substantial costs” on parties responsible for such attacks.
Biden promised he "will make cybersecurity a top priority at every level of government, and we will make dealing with this breach a top priority from the moment we take office."
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