Former CISA Official: Shutdown Strains Cyber Operations

Former Tech Strategist on How DHS Shutdown Hampers US Cyber Defense Chris Riotta (@chrisriotta) • February 20, 2026

A partial government shutdown is now underway, disrupting wide swaths of the Department of Homeland Security and straining the federal government’s ability to coordinate cybersecurity operations at a time of elevated global threats.

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While mission-essential cyber defense functions at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency continue, proactive services that underpin long-term resilience are being sharply reduced, said Daniel Bardenstein, former chief technology strategy officer at CISA and now CEO of cybersecurity firm Manifest (See: No Vote, No Leader: CISA Faces 2026 Without a Director).

"You keep the cyber fire department on duty," Bardenstein said. "But you temporarily shut down fire prevention."

During a funding lapse, CISA prioritizes threat response, incident coordination and protection of critical systems. But activities such as vulnerability ...