110 HRES 1263 IH: Directing the Chief Administrative Officer U.S. House of Representatives 2008-06-11 text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.

IV 110th CONGRESS 2d Session H. RES. 1263 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES June 11, 2008 Mr. Wolf submitted the following resolution; June 11, 2008 By motion of the House, referred to the Committee on the House Administration RESOLUTION Directing the Chief Administrative Officer and the Sergeant at Arms of the House of Representatives to take timely action to ensure that all Members, committees, and offices of the House are alerted of the dangers of electronic attacks on the computers and information systems used in carrying out their official duties and are fully briefed on how to protect themselves, their official records, and their communications from electronic security breaches.

Whereas beginning in August 2006, several of the computers used by Congressman Frank R. Wolf, a Representative from the Commonwealth of Virginia, in carrying out his official and representational duties were compromised by an outside source; Whereas the Chief Administrative Officer of the House of Representatives, acting through House Information Resources (HIR), alerted Congressman Wolf to this incident and cleaned and returned the compromised computers to the Congressman’s office; Whereas since this attack, it has been discovered that computers in the offices of other Members, as well as in the office of at least one committee of the House, have been similarly compromised; Whereas in subsequent meetings with HIR and officials from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the outside source responsible for these incidents was revealed to be located in the People’s Republic of China; Whereas according to HIR, when Members use Blackberry devices or cell phones while traveling overseas, especially in nations in which access to information is tightly controlled by the government, they are at risk of having their conversations or other personal information recorded or collected without authorization; Whereas HIR, the FBI, and the House Security Office briefed the affected offices on the security breaches that have occurred, and have done a good job in attempting to protect other offices of the House from similar threats; and Whereas it is nevertheless not clear that all Members, committees, and other offices of the House are aware of the existing threats against the security and confidentiality of the electronic records of their offices or their overseas electronic communications, nor is it clear that Members and other House personnel have been fully briefed on how to protect themselves, their official records, and their communications from electronic security breaches: Now, therefore, be it

That the Chief Administrative Officer and the Sergeant at Arms of the House of Representatives, in consultation with the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, should take timely action to ensure that all Members, committees, and offices of the House are alerted of the dangers of electronic attacks on the computers and information systems used in carrying out their official duties and are fully briefed on how to protect themselves, their official records, and their communications from electronic security breaches.