Operating under the Department of Homeland Security umbrella, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency came into being in November 2018 as an effort to improve cybersecurity across all levels of government. But one month later, the government shut down for 35 days. CISA had to furlough more than 40 percent of its staff during the shutdown while still maintaining critical operations, which it did.
“It has definitely delayed it a lot,” says Nathan Wenzler, senior director of cybersecurity at consulting firm Moss Adams. “They are looking for qualified people to help with this endeavor. Staffing has to be one of their top concerns, and suddenly the agency is in the dark. It becomes ‘out of sight, out of mind’ among security practitioners.”
While the shutdown may have inhibited the push to stand up CISA as an independent entity, the agency considers itself to be on target today.
“When the shutdown ended, our professional workforce moved quickly to get us back into a fully operational posture,” says CISA Press Secretary Scott McConnell. “Currently, CISA is focused on energizing critical partnerships and priorities. Our four cyber-related priorities are…
