Washington, March 18
The US House of Representatives faced a surge in cyber threats in 2025, with officials saying its websites were hit by 3 billion malicious attacks and staff received 178 million potentially harmful emails.
The scale of the threat was outlined during a House Appropriations Subcommittee hearing on the fiscal year 2027 budget request for the legislative branch, where senior House officers pressed for increased funding to strengthen cybersecurity and modernise internal systems.
Acting Chief Administrative Officer Anne Dressendorfer Binsted said the volume of attacks underscored the urgency of investment in cyber defence. "That's almost 30,000 intrusion attempts during this brief statement alone," she told lawmakers.
She warned that Congress remains a high-value target. "Congress is a target in every sense. It's certainly a top target for the most sophisticated state-backed cyber adversaries," Binsted said.
The Chief Administrative Officer's office has requested $253 million for fiscal 2027, an increase of 8.5 per cent over the previous year. Binsted said 80 per cent of the increase would go towards sustaining operations, including personnel, hardware, software and licences, while 20 per cent would fund new high-priority projects.
Among the key initiatives is the expansion of multi-factor authentication across devices used by members and staff. The House currently operates about 55,000 desktops, laptops and mobile devices, many of them used outside Washington, creating what Binsted described as "an endpoint vulnerability".
She said the House was already installing multi-factor authentication on mobile devices and would extend it to all computers. Once deployed, users would rely on more secure systems such as facial recognition, touch ID and push notifications.
Another proposal involves building a secure cloud environment where customised artificial intelligence tools can be tested using House data without exposing it to external risks. Binsted said the House needed tailored solutions rather than relying solely on "off the shelf products".
She also flagged "shadow IT" - the use of unauthorised applications by staff - as a major vulnerability. "That's one of the greatest risks in my opinion," she said, adding that better awareness and compliance were essential to reduce exposure.
House Sergeant at Arms William McFarland said cybersecurity now sits at the top of his office's priorities as well. "Cybersecurity is definitely at the top of the list," he told the panel, while calling for broader participation by members in existing security programmes.
His office is seeking $147.28 million for fiscal 2027, a 4.75 per cent increase, to support initiatives including the Member Personal Security Program, mobile duress applications and expanded cybersecurity protections for lawmakers and their families.
Meanwhile, House Clerk Kevin McCumber highlighted ongoing efforts to modernise legislative operations and improve efficiency. His office has requested $51.79 million, a 5.71 per cent increase over the current budget.
McCumber pointed to the rollout of an AI-based speech-to-text system for floor proceedings, which he said demonstrated "high accuracy while saving approximately $500,000 per year", including improvements such as closed captioning and Spanish language support.
- IANS
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