II 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2455 

To encourage United States-Ukraine cybersecurity cooperation and require 

a report regarding such cooperation, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 27, 2018 

Mr. BROWN (for himself, Mr. TOOMEY, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, and Mr. GRAHAM) 

introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 

Committee on Foreign Relations 

A BILL 

To encourage United States-Ukraine cybersecurity cooperation and require a report regarding such cooperation, 

and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Ukraine Cybersecurity 

5 Cooperation Act of 2018’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) The United States established diplomatic 

2 relations with Ukraine in 1992, following Ukraine’s 

3 independence from the Soviet Union. 

4 (2) The United States attaches great impor5 tance to the success of Ukraine’s transition to a 

6 modern democratic country with a flourishing mar7 ket economy. 

8 (3) In an effort to undermine democracy in 

9 Ukraine, hackers targeted the country’s voting infra10 structure just days before its 2014 presidential elec11 tion. 

12 (4) In December 2015, a malicious cyber intru13 sion into Ukrainian electric utility companies re14 sulted in widespread power outages. 

15 (5) As a result of the December 2015 cyber in16 cident, the United States sent an interagency team 

17 to Ukraine, including representatives from the De18 partment of Energy, the Federal Bureau of Inves19 tigation, and the North American Electric Reliability 

20 Corporation, to help with the investigation and to 

21 assess the vulnerability of Ukraine’s infrastructure 

22 to cyber intrusion. The visit was followed up by an23 other interagency delegation to Ukraine in March 

24 2016 and a May 2016 United States-Ukrainian taVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:44 Feb 28, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2455.IS S2455

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1 bletop exercise on mitigating attacks against 

2 Ukraine’s infrastructure. 

3 (6) In response to an escalating series of cyber 

4 attacks on the country’s critical infrastructure—in5 cluding its national railway system, its major stock 

6 exchanges, and its busiest airport—President Petro 

7 Poroshenko declared that ‘‘Cyberspace has turned 

8 into another battlefield for state independence.’’. 

9 (7) In May 2017, Ukraine cited activities on 

10 Russian social media platforms, including pro-Rus11 sian propaganda and offensive cyber operations, as 

12 threats to Ukrainian national security. 

13 (8) Following the June 2017 Petya malware 

14 event—a global cyber incident that primarily af15 fected Ukraine—the Secretary General of the North 

16 Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) said ‘‘the 

17 cyber attacks we have seen . . . very much highlight 

18 the importance of the support, the help NATO pro19 vides . . . gives . . . or provides to Ukraine to 

20 strengthen its cyber defenses, technical and other 

21 kinds of support. We will continue to do that and 

22 it’s an important part of our cooperation with 

23 Ukraine.’’. 

24 (9) In September 2017, the United States and 

25 Ukraine conducted the first United States-Ukraine 


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1 Bilateral Cyber Dialogue in Kyiv, during which both 

2 sides affirmed their commitment to an internet that 

3 is open, interoperable, reliable, and secure, and the 

4 United States announced $5 million in new cyber as5 sistance to strengthen Ukraine’s ability to prevent, 

6 mitigate, and respond to cyber attacks. 

7 SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 

8 It is the policy of the United States to— 

9 (1) reaffirm the United States-Ukraine Charter 

10 on Strategic Partnership, which highlights the im11 portance of the bilateral relationship and outlines 

12 enhanced cooperation in the areas of defense, secu13 rity, economics and trade, energy security, democ14 racy, and cultural exchanges; 

15 (2) support continued cooperation between 

16 NATO and Ukraine; 

17 (3) support Ukraine’s political and economic re18 forms; 

19 (4) reaffirm the commitment of the United 

20 States to the Budapest Memorandum on Security 

21 Assurances; 

22 (5) assist Ukraine’s efforts to enhance its cy23 bersecurity capabilities; and 

24 (6) improve Ukraine’s ability to respond to 

25 Russian-supported disinformation and propaganda 


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1 efforts in cyberspace, including through social media 

2 and other outlets. 

3 SEC. 4. UNITED STATES CYBERSECURITY COOPERATION 

4 WITH UKRAINE. 

5 (a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con6 gress that the Secretary of State should take the following 

7 actions, commensurate with United States interests, to as8 sist Ukraine to improve its cybersecurity: 

9 (1) Provide Ukraine such support as may be 

10 necessary to secure government computer networks 

11 from malicious cyber intrusions, particularly such 

12 networks that defend the critical infrastructure of 

13 Ukraine. 

14 (2) Provide Ukraine support in reducing reli15 ance on Russian information and communications 

16 technology. 

17 (3) Assist Ukraine to build its capacity, expand 

18 cybersecurity information sharing, and cooperate on 

19 international cyberspace efforts. 

20 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the date 

21 of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall 

22 submit to the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Sen23 ate and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House 

24 of Representatives a report on United States cybersecurity 


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1 cooperation with Ukraine. The report shall also include 

2 information relating to the following: 

3 (1) United States efforts to strengthen 

4 Ukraine’s ability to prevent, mitigate, and respond 

5 to cyber incidents, including through training, edu6 cation, technical assistance, capacity building, and 

7 cybersecurity risk management strategies. 

8 (2) The potential for new areas of collaboration 

9 and mutual assistance between the United States 

10 and Ukraine in addressing shared cyber challenges, 

11 including cybercrime, critical infrastructure protec12 tion, and resilience against botnets and other auto13 mated, distributed threats. 

14 (3) NATO’s efforts to help Ukraine develop 

15 technical capabilities to counter cyber threats. 

Æ 


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