On Thursday the Washington State Senate voted 49-0 to advance Sen. Matt Boehnke’s legislation to help protect the state from malicious cyber activities, such as ransomware.

“It’s not a matter of if, it is a matter of when,” said Boehnke, R-Kennewick. “If you haven’t been the victim of a cyber-attack, you will be. Chances are that you have been hit already, your data is probably already compromised on the dark web, and you just don’t know it yet.

“We have to integrate cybersecurity into our emergency processes the same way we do with floods, fires and other emergencies across the state. We have to look at our infrastructure, look at how we would respond, what are those contingency plans – how do we close the gaps within our agency plans. The goal of this bill is to work with our technology service groups and coordinate our prevention and response efforts, filling in those gaps that leave us vulnerable.”

Second Substitute Senate Bill 5518 would establish the Cybersecurity Advisory Committee as a subcommittee of the Emergency Management Council; create the Technology Services Board Security Subcommittee within the Technology Services Board; and expand the Department of Commerce’s authority regarding energy-related activities to include preparing and updating contingency plans for securing energy infrastructure against all physical and cybersecurity threats.

Boehnke thanked the members and staff of the Senate Environment, Energy and Technology Committee for the bipartisan effort that went into producing the bill and looking for solutions to the state’s cybersecurity challenges.

He highlighted the efforts of Sen. Joe Nguyễn, D-White Center, who chairs the committee, for his leadership and work on the bill.

Nguyễn also thanked the committee members for their work and praised the final product, applauding Boehnke for his expertise on the issue.

“One of the interesting things is that as a part time legislative body, we are able to bring our experiences to this chamber,” said Nguyễn. “Having someone with a deep expertise in cybersecurity, having someone with a military background, having somebody who also serves on the [Technology Services Board] already – I see no more fitting person to lead these efforts than [Senator Boehnke] right now.”

Senate Bill 5518 now goes to the House of Representatives for that chamber’s consideration.

Measure from Tri-Cities lawmaker with cyber-security expertise would better coordinate state’s effort to protect Washingtonians from malicious data breaches

Today the Senate Ways and Means Committee voted to advance Sen. Matt Boehnke’s legislation to help protect the state from malicious cyber activities, such as ransomware.

“The oil pipeline ransomware attack a couple of years ago is an example of how critical areas of the energy infrastructure – both public and private – are at risk like never before. Clearly, we must take aggressive action to make sure that we can prevent cyberattacks, be ready for an attack when one occurs and able to bounce back from an attack quickly,” said Boehnke.

“Cybersecurity is a complex and multifaceted challenge, and there are several areas where lack of coordination, miscommunication and gaps in policy can leave us vulnerable and without the policies, strategies and other tools we need to protect Washingtonians and their data.

“This bill seeks to solve that problem by centralizing and refining plans and technology across state agencies to better protect everyone from cybersecurity threats.”

Substitute Senate Bill 5518 would establish the Cybersecurity Advisory Committee as a subcommittee of the Emergency Management Council; create the Technology Services Board Security Subcommittee within the Technology Services Board; and expand the Department of Commerce’s authority regarding energy-related activities to include preparing and updating contingency plans for securing energy infrastructure against all physical and cybersecurity threats.

“We must get the funding, the process and the transparency we need in our data-protection systems, and prioritize these efforts,” Boehnke said. “Washington is a data-centric state, a tech-driven state, and a leader among the tech community. We can and should do better.”

SSB 5518 now goes to the Rules Committee, the final stop before consideration by the full Senate.

Legislation from Tri-Cities lawmaker and cyber-security expert would ban use of Chinese-made drones, prohibit CCP-related purchases of land in Washington

Today Sen. Matt Boehnke announced the introduction of two bills that he says are critical to protecting Washingtonians from the threats posed by the Chinese Communist Party’s efforts to spy on Americans and acquire access to land and vital resources within Washington.

Boehnke, R-Kennewick, is a member of the Senate Environment, Energy and Technology Committee and the Legislature’s leading expert on cybersecurity, ransomware and malicious violations of data privacy.

“For years there have been questions about how much our local and state governments should focus on buying American – but primarily for economic reasons,” said Boehnke. “What the pandemic and the disruptions in the supply chain have proved is that the United States is reliant on Chinese-made technology to a disturbing degree. Given the increasingly hostile and brazen disregard for international norms displayed by the People’s Republic of China, the continued use of equipment produced by companies aligned with the CCP represents a serious national security threat that must be addressed.”

Senate Bill 5755 would address this concern, in part, by prohibiting any state- or local-government agency from purchasing, acquiring, or otherwise using an unmanned aircraft or unmanned aircraft system produced by a manufacturer aligned with hostile foreign actors, pursuant to section 889 of the John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2019.

Under section 889 of the act, the federal government is banned from purchasing equipment from certain Chinese vendors due to security concerns, including Huawei and ZTE, as well as any surveillance equipment for the purposes of national security from Dahua Technology, Hytera, and Hikvision.

Boehnke’s bill, which has bipartisan sponsorship, would apply a similar standard to state and local governments, including any law enforcement agency.

“After the nation watched a Chinese spy balloon traverse the entire continental United States, it is crystal clear to me that we should no longer allow drones – probably loaded with CCP spyware – to patrol our skies, especially given the high number of sensitive military, aerospace and technology sites located here in Washington,” said Boehnke. “This bill would prohibit the use of these drones, which are tainted by their ties to the most notorious CCP-linked businesses.”

Boehnke’s second bill, Senate Bill 5754, is modeled after federal legislation introduced by U.S. Representative Dan Newhouse, who serves Washington’s 4^th Congressional District. Starting this August, it would prohibit the purchase of public or private agricultural land in Washington by any foreign national, nonresident alien, foreign business, agent, or trustee associated with the PRC government.

“Congressman Newhouse has shown great leadership and courage in leading this fight at the federal level,” said Boehnke, who spoke with Newhouse about his legislation and the need for a similar state-level bill during the congressman’s recent visit to the state capitol earlier this month. “We must take the threat posed by the Chinese Communist Party seriously. The CCP leaders have made it clear that they seek to undermine American security, economic well-being and democracy itself. I agree with Representative Newhouse that we must respond to this threat with smart policies that will protect our food supply chain and agricultural community.

“The CCP is not content being a competitor; its every action makes it abundantly apparent that they are determined to view us as an adversary, and China intends to win.

“This bill, along with the great work that Representative Newhouse is doing in the other Washington, is about denying the CCP a further foothold within our own borders and a dominance over our people and resources.”

Since 2015, Boehnke has served as the director and lead professor of the cybersecurity division at Columbia Basin College in Pasco. He also owns a cybersecurity consulting business and has more than 32 years of experience in data privacy and cyber security, most of that in the military, working with classified data systems.