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Almost a year into the second Trump administration, public sector leaders and cybersecurity experts say budget cuts and gutting of federal agencies are weakening critical lines of government communication to help companies prepare and respond to cyberattacks, even as AI threats are rising.
The most recent assessment of cybersecurity, based on the goals set forward by the bipartisan U.S. Cyberspace Solarium Commission, found that the U.S. was slipping in its progress toward 82 goals to create a strong cyber defense. “We were surprised and disappointed,” said Ret. Admiral Mark Montgomery, the executive director of Cybersolarium.org. The goals include things like reducing complex regulations on critical infrastructure companies, adding to cyber capacity in the FBI and within intelligence agencies, and improving K-12 cybersecurity education.
Montgomery said the primary causes of the slip in cyber readiness are cuts at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency, as well as earlier DOGE efforts carving a wide swath through the State Department, the National Science Foundation, National Institute of Standards and Technology and the U.S. Department of Commerce.
