Democratic lawmakers criticized proposed White House security and ballroom spending and a nearly $1.8 billion slush fund tied to January 6 allies while the administration seeks deep cuts to cybersecurity funding. Congress is weighing reauthorization of the State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Program, which began in 2022 and earmarked $1 billion for state and local governments over four years to mitigate cyber risks. Lawmakers also said CISA eliminated federal support for the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center, which previously provided free or low-cost threat detection and response services. The MS-ISAC shifted to a fee-based model, raising concerns that jurisdictions most in need cannot afford participation or the tools required for network monitoring and threat sharing.
"“Budgets are moral documents, and spending a billion dollars on a ballroom, which is what the president wants, or $1.7 billion to incentivize insurrectionists while we still are waiting for the reauthorization of this critical grant program, says a lot about where priorities are right now with this administration,” she said during a House Homeland Security subcommittee hearing on state and local cybersecurity."
"Another Democrat on the committee, Rep. James Walkinshaw (D-VA), noted the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) also eliminated federal support for the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center (MS-ISAC), which used to provide free and low-cost threat detection and response services to state and local governments."
"The MS-ISAC has since shifted to a fee-based model to support the state threat sharing program. This means, as expert witness Samir Jain, VP of policy for the Center for Democracy and Technology, testified, “jurisdictions that most need the help are least likely to be able to afford it. Smaller jurisdictions, because if they don't have the resources and the money to join the ISAC, they probably also don't have the resources and the money to buy equipment, to buy network monitoring tools, to have cybersec”"
#cybersecurity-funding #state-and-local-grants #cisa-and-ms-isac #budget-priorities #january-6-related-spending
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