Q&A with former CISA Director Jen Easterly, appointed in 2021, on leaving the agency, Donald Trump, China's Salt Typhoon, Russia, unfinished business, and more
Chinese hacks, rampant ransomware, and Donald Trump's budget cuts all threaten US security. Mastodon: @lhn@mastodon.online . Forums: r/cybersecurity Mastodon: Lily Hay Newman / @lhn@mastodon.online : Days before she resigned from CISA, I did an exit interview with Jen Easterly. She was steadfastly manifesting the future she wanted for her agency, but buried in there she got real: “Any stepping back of what we've put in place will be to the detriment of the safety and security of the American people” https://www.wired.com/... Forums: r/cybersecurity : Under Trump, US Cyberdefense Loses Its Head Expand More For Next Unexpand More For Next
Her exit was anticipated: reporting had said Easterly and her deputy planned to depart with the administration change at the January transition. The interview puts that turnover against unresolved concerns over Chinese and Russian activity, ransomware, and agency resources.
First-order effects
CISA loses its Senate-confirmed director during an administration transition, placing immediate pressure on agency leadership continuity and the unfinished priorities Easterly identifies.
Easterly’s warning makes potential budget reductions and shifts in support for CISA a near-term cyberdefense policy question, rather than merely an internal management issue.
Second-order effects
Federal departments and organizations that rely on CISA’s guidance face less certainty over whether the agency’s recent operational priorities will be sustained or reprioritized.
A leadership and funding reset could force cybersecurity vendors and public-sector partners to adjust to changing demand for federal cyberdefense support and coordination.
Third-order effects
If political transitions repeatedly interrupt cyber-agency leadership and resources, U.S. cyber resilience may depend more on durable institutional capabilities than on any one director’s agenda.
The episode reinforces a broader test for public cyberdefense: whether it can maintain long-term defenses against state-backed intrusion campaigns and ransomware despite changing political priorities.
The trend: This is one data point in the growing tension between persistent cyber threats and the continuity of federal cyberdefense across political transitions.
Days before she resigned from CISA, I did an exit interview with Jen Easterly. She was steadfastly manifesting the future she wanted for her agency, but buried in there she got real: “Any stepping back of what we've put in place will be to the detriment of the safety and securit…
DHS has terminated the memberships of everyone on its advisory committees. — This includes several cyber committees, like CISA's advisory panel and the Cyber Safety Review Board, which was investigating Salt Typhoon. — That review is “dead,” person familiar says. — www.docu…
@lorenzofb Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai on bluesky
NEW: The Trump admin has fired members of the Cyber Safety Review Board, a committee that was lauded for its investigation into Microsoft hacks of 2023, and was working on the recent Salt Typhoon telco hacks. — One source called it a “horribly shortsighted” decision. — techcr…
And, there it is: Acting Secretary Benjamine Huffman is terminating “all current memberships on advisory committees within DHS, effective immediately.” Including CISA cybersecurity advisory committee. [image]
“Department of Homeland Security has dismissed the members of its advisory committees—including the Cyber Safety Review Board, which investigates major cybersecurity incidents—as part of a Trump-admin drive to cut costs at the agency.” — @defenseone.bsky.social — www.defenseo…
The CSRB was “less than halfway” done with its Salt Typhoon investigation, according to a now-former member. — “I'm hoping this is a pause, not the end,” this person said. “There are still professional staff for the CSRB and I hope they will continue some of the work in the in…
This is pretty remarkable. And frankly I was really looking forward to seeing the thorough review of Salt Typhoon. — If you were on the CSRB or were familiar with its work and want the public to know where things stood, I'm committed to source protection and my signal is in my…
Other cyber advisory boards now kaput: — • Artificial Intelligence Safety and Security Board — • Critical Infrastructure Partnership Advisory Council — • National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee — • National Infrastructure Advisory Council …
Current DHS advisory list that one source flagged to me: www.dhs.gov/advisory-pan... Housed in it, among several groups: Cyber Safety Review Board and the National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee — Would this termination halt the government's probe into the Salt T…
DHS now has a statement on this: “Effective immediately, the Department of Homeland Security will no longer tolerate any advisory committee which push agendas that attempt to undermine its national security mission, the President's agenda or Constitutional rights of Americans.”
The CSRB members who were terminated were undergoing a review of China's Salt Typhoon attacks, which are getting worse by the day. Shortsighted is accurate.
Members of the Cyber Safety Review Board were informed they have been dismissed pursuant to a DHS order disbanding all advisory committees. The board had been in the middle of probing the Chinese hack of U.S. telecoms, a review that now is in limbo and possibly terminated.