After reports came out from sources like Netscout and Digital Attack Map about a potential major DDoS, or distribution denial-of-service, attack, people across the country were quick to react to the possibility of a digital threat. Among those was California Rep. Ted Lieu, who directed his frustration over the situation towards President Donald Trump.
In a tweet directed at the 45th president of the United States, Lieu reminded everyone that Trump had previously cut the cybersecurity coordinator two years ago and lost “at least a dozen high-level officials” in the department that was created under the Obama administration. He also linked to a letter he had sent courtesy of Axios in which Lieu voiced his concern over the direction the government was heading and how they would plan on fighting off future cyberattacks. The letter came after the aforementioned 12 officials left or were “forced out” from their positions. He reminded acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, to whom the letter was addressed, that the committee was created to fend off Rusian attacks and with the lack of support in maintaining the staff, risks for future invasions were heightened.
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In light of this DDoS attack, your reminder that @realDonaldTrump eliminated the cybersecurity coordinator position at the NSC in 2018. And in 2019 at least a dozen high-level officials resigned from cybersecurity mission established under Obama. https://t.co/ocKc2Mzdoz https://t.co/TfpRRll2MO
— Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) June 15, 2020
In that same letter, Lieu also took a shot at Trump, letting it be known that he was worried the moves that were made were forced by the President. In his message, he said what was being done, “fits the President’s history of obstructing and hiding transcripts and government business by manipulating internal bureaucratic procedures.”
Reports of a potential DDoS attack first began Monday afternoon, growing even more after it was supported by someone claiming to be affiliated with online covert group Anonymous. However, many experts did not think a DDoS attack was what was actually going down. Some attributed the rumors to faulty sources and the fact that T-Mobile was simultaneously experiencing outages. The company’s President of Technology, Neville Ray, put out a message on Twitter, confirming that they were experiencing some technical difficulties.
