Hillicon Valley — Ukraine postal service hit with cyberattack

by Ines Kagubare, Rebecca Klar and Chris Mills Rodrigo - 04/22/22 5:49 PM ET

Ukraine said on Friday that its postal service was hit by a cyberattack following the sale of a controversial stamp depicting a Ukrainian solider giving the middle finger to a Russian warship.

Meanwhile, Republican lawmakers are requesting that Twitter keeps all records related to Elon Musk’s offer to buy the company.

This is Hillicon Valley, detailing all you need to know about tech and cyber news from Capitol Hill to Silicon Valley. Send tips to The Hill’s Rebecca Klar, Chris Mills Rodrigo and Ines Kagubare. Someone forward you this newsletter? Subscribe here.

Cyberattack hits Ukraine’s postal service

Ukrainian officials on Friday said the country’s postal service was targeted by a cyberattack following the sale of stamps portraying a Ukrainian soldier giving the middle finger to a Russian warship, according to Reuters.

The stamps went on sale last week following the sinking of Russia’s Moskva cruiser. The warship, which was the flagship of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, sank last week after it caught on fire.

Ukrainian forces claimed to have struck the ship with two Neptune missiles which created the explosion and caused significant damage.

Ihor Smilianskyi, the director general of Ukraine’s postal service, apologized on Facebook to customers, explaining that disruption of service was due to a DDoS (distributed denial-of-service) attack. Smilianskyi did not identify the perpetrators behind the attack.

Read more here.

GOP press Twitter board on Musk docs

House Republicans are asking Twitter’s board of directors to preserve all records related to Elon Musk’s offer to buy the company, according to a letter sent Friday.

The request, led by House Judiciary Committee ranking member Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and signed by 17 colleagues, raises the possibility of Republicans probing the Twitter board’s decisions regarding the offer if the GOP wins back majority power in the fall.

“As Congress continues to examine Big Tech and how to best protect Americans’ free speech rights, this letter serves as a formal request that you preserve all records and materials relating to Musk’s offer to purchase Twitter, including Twitter’s consideration and response to this offer, and Twitter’s evaluation of its shareholder interests with respect to Musk’s offer,” they wrote.

Read more here.

BIDEN TOUTS INFRASTRUCTURE GAINS

President Biden on Thursday traveled to the West Coast to tout his agenda, specifically promoting the bipartisan infrastructure law he signed late last year, while speaking at a stop in Portland, Ore.

Biden spoke at Portland International Airport, where he celebrated $42 million from the bipartisan infrastructure law that will be used for modernizing 50 airports across Oregon, in addition to $20 million invested in the Portland airport last year.

Part of the funding in Portland will be used to make runways more resistant to earthquakes.

“We must build a better America, and a good place to start is right here in Portland,” Biden said. “Folks, look, Portland International Airport is a perfect example of both the need and the opportunity and the ability to make progress. I don’t have to tell you it’s the central economic engine for the entire region.”

Read more here.

EXPERTS PUSH FOR NEW EV BATTERIES

The U.S. needs to create a “road map” to the batteries of the futureeven as it solves existing supply chain issues, experts told a House panel on Thursday.

President Biden has pushed domestic automakers to electrify their vehicle fleets, a goal that in the short term will require securing supply chains for critical minerals like lithium and cobalt that are used in lithium-ion batteries, experts say.

But in the long term, the U.S. must proactively look ahead to the next generation of batteries — and the new mines, laboratories and refineries that will help develop them, figures representing science, government and industry told members of the House Science Committee at a field hearing in Chicago.

Read more here.

VIRTUAL EVENT INVITE

The Hill’s Sustainability Imperative—Wednesday, April 27 & Thursday, April 28—2:00 PM ET/11:00 AM PT daily

Sustainability is not optional—it’s imperative, and everyone has a role to play. On April 27 and 28, The Hill will host its second annual festival convening policy leaders and practitioners in the sustainability ecosystem, featuring interviews with Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, Council on Environmental Quality Chair Brenda Mallory, actress Sigourney Weaver and more. RSVP today to save your spot.

BITS & PIECES

An op-ed to chew on: A Russian cyberattack is coming —lawmakers and citizens must prepare

Lighter click: We’ve all been there

Notable links from around the web:

American Phone-Tracking Firm Demo’d Surveillance Powers by Spying on CIA and NSA (The Intercept / Sam Biddle, Jack Poulson)
Bereal, an app that focuses on authenticity, is surging (NBC / Ben Goggin)
They’ve leaked terabytes of Russian emails, but who’s reading? (The Verge / Corin Faife)

One more thing: Obama shares regrets

Former President Obama on Thursday said he still holds regrets for failing to see the rampant spread of disinformation within the U.S. while he was president, particularly around the 2016 election.

In a speech at Stanford University on the dangers of disinformation, Obama touched on the 2016 election, which U.S. intelligence has long confirmed Russia meddled in.

The former president said no one in his administration was surprised Russia had spread disinformation across social media platforms in an effort to sway the U.S. election, but he regretted not fully understanding how vulnerable America had become to such content.