Security News > 2021 > March > Despite Hacks, US Not Seeking Widened Domestic Surveillance
The Biden administration is not planning to step up government surveillance of the U.S. internet even as state-backed foreign hackers and cybercriminals increasingly use it to evade detection, a senior administration official said Friday.
The official said the administration, mindful of the privacy and civil liberties implications that could arise, is not currently seeking additional authority to monitor U.S.-based networks.
Instead, the administration will focus on tighter partnerships and improved information-sharing with the private-sector companies that already have broad visibility into the domestic internet, said the official, who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity.
Foreign state hackers are increasingly using U.S.-based virtual private networks, or VPNs, to evade detection by U.S. intelligence agencies, who are legally constrained from monitoring domestic infrastructure.
In the crucial second stage of the SolarWinds hacking campaign the suspected Russian intelligence operatives used U.S.-based VPNs to siphon off data through backdoors in victims' networks, establishing an account that made it seem like they were in the U.S. That hack detected in December compromised at least nine federal agencies, and exposed "Significant gaps in modernization and in technology of cybersecurity across the federal government," the official said.
The official said President Joe Biden has been briefed on the incident, and private-sector cybersecurity sleuths were brought in to confer with White House officials on a response.