US Head of Homeland Security’s Departure Raises Questions
Kirstjen Nielsen is leaving her job as US Head of Homeland Security, and this has caused uncertainty within the Department of Homeland Security about the agency’s cyber-security efforts. Nielsen had made cybersecurity a top priority and now with her departure many are concerned as to questioning whether her permanent replacement will do the same.
President Trump tapped Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Kevin McAleenan to serve as acting secretary. And while he has a broad background in border security matters, he is entering the interim role without significant cyber experience.
“DHS is already stretched very thin and putting lots and lots of effort into ... the main thing that this administration cares about, which is the immigration mission,” said Chris Painter, who served as cybersecurity coordinator at the State Department during the Obama administration. “And I think, inevitably, that is going to have an effect on the cyber mission.”
Concerns about a potential cyber void have been heightened by Trump signaling that he wants a DHS leader who is tough on immigration policy and border issues.
"Given what we know about the kind of person the president wants to lead DHS, essentially someone who is willing to take the most hawkish position on immigration possible, it doesn’t seem likely the new DHS leader will be a cyber-focused person," Jamil Jaffer, a former senior counsel for Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee, told a reporter.
McAleenan will be taking on the position at a time when Trump has amped up his rhetoric about closing the southern border and taking on a more aggressive security stance amid a spike in illegal border crossings over the past few months. Nielsen had an extensive cyber background. She advised former President George W. Bush on cyber and homeland security issues, and she founded a cyber-focused consulting group called Sunesis Consulting.
At DHS, Nielsen created the National Risk Management Center to focus on fighting against evolving digital dangers. She also publicly pushed lawmakers last year to pass a bipartisan bill that cemented the agency’s role as the main entity overseeing civilian cybersecurity by establishing the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), which focuses on securing federal networks and protecting critical infrastructure from cyber threats.
She also heightened the awareness of digital threats, leading efforts to secure the 2018 midterms after the US intelligence community concluded that Russia sought to interfere in the 2016 presidential election through sophisticated disinformation campaigns and by hacking into the Democratic National Committee. Nielsen even warned that cyber-attacks could be more dangerous than terrorist attacks.
“DHS was founded 15 years ago to prevent another 9/11. I believe an attack of that magnitude is now more likely to reach us online than on an airplane,” Nielsen said in a speech last year.
“Our digital lives are in danger like never before.” Experts say that fervor for cyber will be difficult to match.
“Unless they have passion about it and really understand it, you only get so far, especially with issues in cyber where to many people it is still a mystery, even though it shouldn’t be,” Painter said.
Potential successors to Nielsen include Energy Secretary Rick Perry, former Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli and former Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach.
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