Report: US cybersecurity posture on the decline

Mounting cyber workforce and budget cuts, as well as a lack of cybersecurity authorities, under the Trump administration were noted by the Cyberspace Solarium Commission 2.0 to have placed the U.S.'s cybersecurity posture in a precarious situation, reports CyberScoop. The U.S. should address its stalling cybersecurity defenses not only by providing the Office of the National Cyber Director with "positional authority" that would bolster cyber investment alignment across government departments but also by reversing cyber personnel and spending reductions at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, according to the CSC 2.0 report. Advancing the country's cyber status also requires the restoration of the State Department Bureau of Cyberspace and Diplomacy and the Critical Infrastructure Partnership Advisory Council, as well as the implementation of expanded workforce initiatives. "This year's assessment makes clear that technology is evolving faster than federal efforts to secure it. Meanwhile, cuts to cyber diplomacy and science programs and the absence of stable leadership at key agencies like the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), the State Department, and the Department of Commerce have further eroded momentum," wrote former CSC 2.0 Chair Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, and Executive Director Mark Montgomery.