Sean Caincross, who was nominated by President Donald Trump to become the national cyber director, was interrogated about his lack of background in cybersecurity and the proposed significant reduction in Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency spending for fiscal year 2026 during his confirmation hearing before the senate, according to The Record, a news site by cybersecurity firm Recorded Future.
Despite inadequate technical cyber expertise, Caincross said that he has become aware of attack remediation and tracking efforts following previous work with the FBI and the intelligence community, while expressing his support for the passage of the bipartisan Cybersecurity Information Sharing Extension Act and Rural Hospital Cybersecurity Enhancement Act. Caincross also noted maximizing the effectiveness and efficiency of the country's cyber defense efforts amid escalating attacks and the threat of reduced cybersecurity funding, which was criticized by Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich. Meanwhile, increased public-private partnerships were emphasized by Caincross to be necessary in combating Chinese state-backed threat operations Salt Typhoon and Volt Typhoon.
Despite inadequate technical cyber expertise, Caincross said that he has become aware of attack remediation and tracking efforts following previous work with the FBI and the intelligence community, while expressing his support for the passage of the bipartisan Cybersecurity Information Sharing Extension Act and Rural Hospital Cybersecurity Enhancement Act. Caincross also noted maximizing the effectiveness and efficiency of the country's cyber defense efforts amid escalating attacks and the threat of reduced cybersecurity funding, which was criticized by Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich. Meanwhile, increased public-private partnerships were emphasized by Caincross to be necessary in combating Chinese state-backed threat operations Salt Typhoon and Volt Typhoon.
