Mounting cyber defense in the face of unexpected staff reductions

The landscape of federal cybersecurity is undergoing a significant shift. This new reality adds an extra component of complexity to the cybersecurity strategy: achieving strategic goals like Zero Trust and Continuous Threat Exposure Management and fortifying defenses with fewer people, tools and processes than before. Recent workforce and budget reductions, exemplified by the Department of Government Efficiency’s initiatives, are directly impacting agencies, including critical bodies like the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. This amplified challenge demands a recalibration of cybersecurity strategies, compelling agencies to strategically leverage their core capabilities.

Federal agencies operate in a unique environment compared to the private sector. Their attack surface is vast and diverse, encompassing critical infrastructure, sensitive national security data, and public-facing services. The threat actors they face are equally unique, ranging from nation-states with sophisticated capabilities to hacktivists and cybercriminals. Building a robust security posture in this context is a continuous journey, often ...