During his first term as president, Donald Trump helped create the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) to defend US government computer systems from hackers and assist other organizations in protecting themselves. However, six years later, employees of the agency are concerned about what Trump will do with it once he returns to office.
Trump’s alliances with libertarian billionaires and his promises to cut government spending and corporate oversight have raised alarms among CISA staffers. The agency, which was formed in 2018 by reorganizing an existing DHS wing, gained bipartisan credibility but became a target of right-wing criticism after its Trump-appointed director rejected the president’s election conspiracy theories and worked with tech companies to combat online misinformation during the 2022 election.
These incidents have turned CISA into a conservative scapegoat, with House Republicans accusing the agency of spying on and censoring Americans. The GOP senator who will soon oversee the agency has even proposed eliminating it. With Trump returning to office and vowing to purge disloyal civil servants and focus on immigration crackdowns, CISA employees are worried about the fate of their agency.
According to interviews with current CISA staffers and a US cyber official, employees are concerned that Trump’s administration will scale back key initiatives that were part of President Biden’s cybersecurity agenda. This includes efforts to hold companies accountable for the security of their products and services, such as CISA’s campaign for companies to make their systems “secure by design” and “secure by default.” Hundreds of companies have signed CISA’s pledge and committed to taking cybersecurity more seriously.
However, CISA employees and Biden administration officials expect the Trump team to eliminate these initiatives, as they do not believe it is the government’s role to dictate how the private sector should act. This could have a negative impact on CISA’s mission, as one employee explains, “We believe it’s our responsibility to help those who don’t really have the ability to help themselves.”
In conclusion, the future of CISA under Trump’s administration is uncertain, and employees are worried about the fate of their agency and its mission to protect US government computer systems and assist other organizations in defending themselves against cyber threats.
