Reader TTS

Cybersecurity officials celebrated in November when President Donald Trump launched a new agency within the Department of Homeland Security focused entirely on protecting vulnerabilities in

the federal government’s computer systems. But just over a month after the agency was established, nearly half of the staff of the new Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA)

has been furloughed, which could put the government in a compromised position for guarding against potential cyberattacks. The new CISA reorganized and rebranded an existing division of

DHS, making cybersecurity a central concern for the agency.

Approximately 43 percent of CISA staff is currently furloughed, though the remaining staff is presumably on standby in case of a major cyberattack. As of last Thursday, the US Computer

Emergency Response Team, which operates under DHS, was continuing to send out cybersecurity warnings to critical infrastructure sectors.

However, without a fully functioning CISA, the risk of a cyber threat does appear to be higher. “If I were a bad actor, this would be a very tempting time to do some mischief,” Suzanne

Spaulding, a former DHS official who led the division tasked with cybersecurity, told the Hill.

Danny Toler, the former acting assistant secretary for DHS’s cybersecurity office, told the Hill that CISA is losing “critical momentum” during the government shutdown to get its intended

initiatives up and running.

House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) issued a statement last week questioning whether CISA is still monitoring federal networks to guard against cybersecurity

attacks on critical infrastructure, state election agencies, and high-risk chemical facilities.

Rep. Robin Kelly (D-Ill.), the chairwoman of the House Oversight and Reform Committee’s IT subcommittee, said last week that the government shutdown is making it more difficult for the

federal government to attract and retain talent within the cybersecurity world. According to a report by the Government Accountability Office from last year, DHS had failed to identified

many of its vacant cybersecurity needs, let alone fill them.

“How can we ever hope to recruit or maintain IT talent when hardworking government workers are told: ‘sorry, you aren’t getting paid, but you still need to come to work’ or ‘sorry, but no

paycheck this week because of politics?’” Kelly said in a statement. “Large private sector companies never say this to their employees and these are our competitors when it comes to IT

talent recruitment.”

Furloughed employees could mean that CISA computers go without needed security updates and do not have the day-to-day ability to detect network intrusions as needed. “The first 24 hours

between a hack and detection is vital,” Tom Gann, chief of public policy at security research firm McAfee, told Roll Call.

Foreign government hackers could also gain knowledge into which US computer networks are considered “essential” based on which systems are running during the shutdown. “A foreign

intelligence organization can deduce from that who matters and who doesn’t,” Gann told Roll Call.

DHS officials could not give comment because they are not working currently due to the shutdown.

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends

to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes

to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real

difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends

to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes

to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real

difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Inexpensive, too! Subscribe today and get a full year of Mother Jones for just $19.95.

Award-winning photojournalism. Stunning video. Fearless conversations.

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

We’re a nonprofit newsroom, because the truth-telling investigations we’re known for don’t happen under corporate ownership. We shine a bright light into the dark corners of power and report

the facts other media are afraid to touch.

The essential ingredient that makes this possible? Readers like you. Please stand with Mother Jones and make a donation today. These are dangerous times, and we’ve got a lot of hard,

consequential work to do. But we can’t do it without reader support.

We’re a nonprofit newsroom, because the truth-telling investigations we’re known for don’t happen under corporate ownership. We shine a bright light into the dark corners of power and report

the facts other media are afraid to touch.

The essential ingredient that makes this possible? Readers like you. Please stand with Mother Jones and make a donation today. These are dangerous times, and we’ve got a lot of hard,

consequential work to do. But we can’t do it without reader support.