Critical Infrastructure Security, Network Security, Security Strategy, Plan, Budget

NIAC members resign, saying president has under-prioritized cybersecurity

Claiming that President Donald Trump has given cybersecurity short shrift, eight members of the 28-member National Infrastructure Advisory Council (NAIC), have resigned.

"You have given insufficient attention to the growing threats to the cybersecurity of the critical systems upon which all Americans depend, including those impacting the systems supporting our democratic election process," the group said in letters to the president, according to NextGov.

The panelists also said they decided to bail after Trump didn't "denounce intolerance and violence of hate groups" in the aftermath of the violence in Charlottesville, Va., when white supremacists clashed with protesters. 

The resignations come just over a week after  members of the Manufacturing Council and the Strategic and Policy Forum took their leave in the wake of Charlottesville and the president shuttered them. Members of the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities cited the same motive for their resignation two weeks ago.

Shortly thereafter, the White House issued a statement saying, “Earlier this month it was decided that President Trump will not renew the Executive Order for the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities (PCAH), which expires later this year. While the committee has done good work in the past, in its current form it simply is not a responsible way to spend American tax dollars.”

There is no indication that the NIAC will meet the same fate as the other commissions. 

"The NIAC met today as planned with the majority of its members, who remain committed to the important work of protecting our Nation's critical infrastructure," the White House said in a statement, according to The Hill. 

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