Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) plans to block President Trump’s pick to lead the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) until the agency releases a report about telecommunications insecurity.
Wyden will place a hold Wednesday on Sean Plankey’s nomination to serve as CISA director over what he describes in a statement as the agency’s “multi-year cover up of the phone companies’ negligent cybersecurity has real consequences.”
CISA has refused to provide Congress and the public with copies of a 2022 report on "U.S. Telecommunications Insecurity,” although Wyden’s staff was permitted to read the report in person at the agency’s office in 2023, the senator said.
He disputed CISA’s claim that the unclassified report is protected by a “deliberative process privilege,” arguing that it is a “technical document containing factual information about U.S. telecom security.”
Wyden pointed to the China-linked Salt Typhoon hack of major telecommunications firms last year. Nine large telecom companies, including AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile, were targeted as part of the wide-ranging breach, according to The Wall Street Journal.
“This espionage incident, and the harm to U.S. national security caused by it, were the direct result of U.S. phone carriers’ failure to follow cybersecurity best practices, such as installing security updates and using multi-factor authentication, and federal agencies failing to hold these companies accountable,” Wyden said.
The Oregon Democrat previously voiced concerns about telecommunications security to former President Biden and the administration’s leaders at CISA and the National Security Agency (NSA).
In a February 2024 letter, he urged Biden to “address the grave threats posed by wireless carriers’ lax cybersecurity practices,” noting the 2022 report that CISA had refused to disclose.
“While it is too late to prevent the Salt Typhoon hack, there is still time to prevent the next incident,” he said Wednesday.
“As such, I intend to object to considering this nominee until CISA agrees to release this report, which will enable Congress and the public to better understand the current threats and the need for stronger cyber defenses,” he continued.
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