Washington, DC – U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) released the statement below regarding today’s news that Microsoft and the FBI led a disruption and mitigation operation against the Citadel family of malware and associated botnets:
“I congratulate Microsoft, the FBI, and their partners for today’s operation against the Citadel family of malware and the more than one thousand botnets it supports. The scale of the criminal activity associated with Citadel malware, ranging from the invasion of Americans’ privacy to bank fraud, is astonishing. This operation shows the importance of continued efforts by the private sector and the government to disrupt and eliminate known threats on the Internet. As we heard in last month’s Judiciary Subcommittee hearing on this issue, our nation can do more to fight back against cyber threats. Today’s action is an important step, and I look forward to more in the near future.”
Senator Whitehouse has emerged as one of the Senate’s leaders on cybersecurity issues. In 2010 he served as chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee’s Cyber Task Force, and he played an active role in last year’s negotiations over cybersecurity legislation. Last month he chaired a hearing of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism to examine the nation’s responses to cyber threats. Among the topics discussed at that hearing was the need for more takedown efforts against cyber threats.
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