WASHINGTON, D.C. – Following the news of the cyber-attack on Anthem Health Insurance, which may have compromised the data of millions of customers including its 300,000 members in Maine, U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine), a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, released the following statement:

“How many cyber-attacks do we have to endure, how many Americans have to be put at risk, before Congress takes action on this incredibly pressing and serious issue?

“I commend Anthem for being forthcoming about this breach. Congress must also do its part by moving quickly to enact legislation to improve information sharing between the government and the private sector and to bolster our economic and national security against cyber-attacks.

“The list of cyber-breaches, hacks, and attacks will only continue to grow – and by not acting we are wasting valuable time when we know full well that the next target could be an electrical grid or our financial system. We know what the problem is. We know how we could take steps to combat it. I continue to strongly urge my colleagues to immediately consider cyber-security legislation. Congress needs to get this done. Enough is enough.”

Senator King has been a strong and vocal advocate of passing cyber-security legislation. As a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, he supported the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (CISA), which passed the Committee with bipartisan support last July, but did not receive a vote on the Senate floor.

In remarks delivered on the Senate floor last month, he further warned about the danger of cyber-attacks and called on Congress to immediately pass meaningful cyber-security legislation. Senator King’s remarks can be watched below:

Senator King’s office has spoken with a variety of Maine businesses within the health, defense, financial, education, and consumer products sectors, almost all of which expressed serious concern about cyber-security or had even experienced some type of cyber-intrusion. For example, according to the Maine Credit Union League, over the past year data breaches in Maine have cost credit unions around $2 million to replace debit and credit cards and an additional $500,000 for covering fraud.

A study conducted by McAfee and the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) estimates that the annual cost to the global economy from cyber-crime is more than $445 billion, and that economic losses from cyber-crime could translate into more than 200,000 jobs lost in the U.S. alone.

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