WATCH: House Judiciary oversight hearing for the FBI cyber division

The House Judiciary committee held an oversight hearing on Tuesday for the FBI cyber division.

Watch the hearing in the player above.

FBI Cyber Division Assistant Director Bryan Vorndran testified.

The hearing comes after several notable cyberattacks last year against critical infrastructure including the Colonial Pipeline hack.

“To tritely describe the threat of cyberattacks against the United States as simply ‘great’ or ‘high’ … minimizes the danger we face as a nation,” said Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-New York, during the opening of the hearing.

The need for heightened cybersecurity is also due in part to increased tensions between Russia and the U.S. over the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

An FBI advisory obtained by The Associated Press last week says Russian hackers have scanned at least five energy companies for vulnerabilities and at least 18 other companies in sectors including the defense industrial base and financial services. The advisory does not identify any of the companies.

Scanning a network for flaws or vulnerabilities is common and does not indicate that an attack is forthcoming, though the activity can sometimes be a precursor of one. Still, the warning by the FBI, dated Friday, underscores the Biden administration’s heightened cybersecurity concerns due to Russia’s war with Ukraine.

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