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Tags: democratic national committee | tom perez | cyber security | elections | president donald trump

DNC Chair: U.S. in 'Cyberwar' and Trump's 'Asleep at the Switch'

DNC Chair: U.S. in 'Cyberwar' and Trump's 'Asleep at the Switch'
Tom Perez (AP)

By    |   Friday, 24 August 2018 04:17 PM EDT

Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez has accused President Donald Trump and the Republican Party for failing to act against cyber attacks against the United States.

"We are at war right now — it's a cyberwar and unfortunately the commander in chief of the cyberwar is asleep at the switch because he benefits and has benefited from the cyberwar," Perez told CNN on Thursday. "We're not waiting for help; we're not waiting for the cavalry from the White House. We're working with our partners in the cyber-ecosystem and that is in part how we were able to address this, what turned out to be a false alarm."

"When we saw that there was something potentially of the nature of a phishing attempt on our crown jewels — the voter file — we immediately sprung [sic] into action. We immediately worked with others in the cybersecurity world, and we were able to identify the problem, localize the problem, ensure that there was no damage to be done," he continued. "I'm relieved that it was a false alarm but I'm also very, very cognizant of the fact that this is going to continue to happen and we're not going to have false alarms in the future."

When asked if the Trump administration has acted appropriately to protect the U.S. from cyber attacks, Perez replied: "The short answer is absolutely not, and I say that with anger and sadness because this is not a partisan issue. It shouldn't be a partisan issue. These are attacks on our democracy."

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Politics
Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez has accused President Donald Trump and the Republican Party for failing to act against cyber attacks against the United States. "We are at war right now - it's a cyberwar and unfortunately the commander in chief of the...
democratic national committee, tom perez, cyber security, elections, president donald trump
252
2018-17-24
Friday, 24 August 2018 04:17 PM
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