Adverse impact of proposed CISA budget cut warned by official

CyberScoop reports that House Republicans' proposal to reduce Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency spending by 25% has been noted by CISA Executive Assistant Director for Cybersecurity Eric Goldstein to be "catastrophic," as it would significantly hamper the agency's efforts to monitor federal network threats. "Right now, we are at the point where we have reasonable confidence and our visibility into risks facing federal agencies. We would not be able to sustain that visibility with that significant of a budget cut, and our adversaries would unequivocally exploit those gaps," said Goldstein during a federal cybersecurity hearing led by House Homeland Security cybersecurity and infrastructure protection subcommittee. Similar sentiments were expressed by Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., who said that inadequate resources for key CISA programs could leave an opening for various nation-state actors to target federal networks. C ISA Director Jen Easterly previously noted the severely adverse effect of any budget reductions for the agency.