Now, we know the U.S. has a cybersecurity problem. The question everyone seems to be asking is what should we do about it.
Just take a look at the emergency allocation and you’ll see those dollars being spread to at least five different departments and agencies: the General Services Administration, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, the federal chief information security officer and U.S. Digital Services. As the old saying goes, when everyone is in charge, no one is in charge.
Congress should be fundamentally reorganizing its simply embarrassing efforts into a centralized Department of Cybersecurity. This new department should have the mandate to organize the big-three triad—people, tech and processes—into a more cohesive structure. The work that has started under both parties administrations, such as the creation of the federal information security officer within the Office of Management and Budget by President Barack Obama and the creation of CISA, an operational component of the Department of Homeland Security, under President Donald Trump are steps in the right direction, but it’s time to build upon these efforts and together under a single, effective agency stop the current approach to cyber.
Cyber Department people would be responsible for cybersecurity throughout the federal government. This is not just a network defense role. There are at least three different times in computer systems’ life cycles that cybersecurity is needed. First, the department would serve as a resource for creating more modern DevSecOps efforts throughout the government. Second, the department would serve as evaluators who help the government determine whether new acquisitions are cyber fit for purpose. Third, the department would act as the central point for incident response and defensive operations.
The government needs to adopt a “shift left” mindset, where security is baked in as early as possible into development as possible. This is also the best value for the taxpayer. Studies show that fixing a problem after deployment can cost up to 100x more than if found early. A Cyber Department would provide the secure development framework and resources for implementation.