CybersecurityDHS to double cybersecurity staff
DHS recently announced that it plans to increase its cybersecurity workforce by more than 50 percent so that it can lead government-wide efforts to secure federal networks against cyber attacks as outlined in President Obama’s recently proposed cybersecurity plan; DHS plans to hire 140 additional cybersecurity experts by October 2012 bringing the agency’s total to 400; under the president’s proposed legislation, DHS would act as the lead agency in coordinating cybersecurity measures across the government and would also be responsible for ensuring that private operators of critical infrastructure have adequate security measures in place
DHS recently announced that it plans to increase its cybersecurity workforce by more than 50 percent so that it can lead government-wide efforts to secure federal networks against cyber attacks as outlined in President Obama’s recently proposed cybersecurity plan.
Before a Senate committee on Monday, Phillip Reitinger, the deputy undersecretary of the DHS’s National Protection and Programs Directorate, said, that DHS plans to hire 140 additional cybersecurity experts by October 2012 bringing the agency’s total to 400.
This decision comes as part of President Obama’s plan to secure both federal networks and critical infrastructure from malicious cyberattacks. Under the proposed legislation, DHS would act as the lead agency in coordinating cybersecurity measures across the government and would also be responsible for ensuring that private operators of critical infrastructure have adequate security measures in place.
Critical infrastructure operators would be required to submit cybersecurity plans to DHS auditors who would review the plans. If the plans are deemed inadequate the firms could face legal or financial penalties.
Senator Joe Lieberman (I – Connecticut), the chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, supported the proposal stating, “DHS will be the new sheriff in cyber town that we need.”
