Sens. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., chairman of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, and Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., said Tuesday that the Defend COVID Research from Hackers Act would give the president more authority to take swift action against those attempting to cause a cyberattack related to virus research.
The bill would allow the president to block property transactions of alleged hackers, ban them from entering the U.S., revoke their visas and apply sanctions. In order to impose sanctions, the secretary of state and director of national intelligence would have to provide a report to Congress detailing the alleged activities and their impacts.
"Congress must give the President the tools to combat these bad actors, and this legislation will allow the Administration to identify and target those who work to steal research on a COVID-19 vaccine," Tillis said in a statement.
The bill comes amid a series of warnings by U.S. officials about nation-backed cyberattackers. In May, the FBI and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said they were looking into whether cybercriminals "affiliated" with the Chinese government were attempting to steal American research on coronavirus vaccines and treatments.
The U.S. National Security Agency and the U.K.'s top cybersecurity agency, the National Cyber Security Centre, said in July they were investigating whether hackers backed by Russia's government are targeting organizations in the West that are researching potential vaccines for the virus that causes COVID-19.
Those warnings have caused companies to think beyond their regulatory obligations to protect personal information and to ensure that their intellectual property is shielded from evolving cyberthreats, putting them on heightened notice about aggressive methods of state-backed cyberattacks. But the senators said the government should play a stronger enforcement role.
"Since work began to find a COVID-19 vaccine, hackers affiliated with foreign nations have worked to steal research from American companies and research institutions," Tillis said. "These attempts to steal American intellectual property related to COVID-19 is a threat to our national security and economic health."
U.S. Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., introduced a similar bill in the House in July.
--Additional reporting by Allison Grande and Ben Kochman. Editing by Breda Lund.
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