Outgoing White House cyber czar Harry Coker called for three key things to address the growing threat of digital attacks: more funding, deregulation and opening cyber jobs to those without college degrees.
As adversaries like Iran, China and Russia launch near-constant attacks on America’s digital infrastructure, “we must prioritize cybersecurity within federal budgets,” President Joe Biden’s national cyber director said at an event with the Foundation for Defense of Democracies in Washington, DC .
“I would like to see the new administration, or any administration, recognize the priority of cybersecurity,” Coker said.
He added that he understands the US is in a “difficult budget situation.”
“I understand that and I support making progress in reducing the budget deficit, but we must prioritize cybersecurity within our current budgets,” he said.
At the same time, the Biden appointee railed against “duplicate federal regulations” and said he had heard from those working to protect the nation’s online infrastructure that they spend “as much as 30 to 50%” of their time compliance with regulations. rather than guaranteeing protection against hacks.
“Armed with the industry’s call to streamline, we worked with Congress to write bipartisan legislation that would bring all stakeholders, including independent regulators, to the table to advance regulatory harmonization,” he continued.
“Many of us were disappointed that this has not yet become law, but we have laid the groundwork for the next administration in Congress to do the right thing for our private sector partners.”
His insistence comes as the US grapples with the fallout from one of China’s largest attacks on US infrastructure in history, dubbed Salt Typhoon.
A Chinese intelligence group infiltrated nine US telecommunications giants and gained access to the private text messages and phone calls of Americans, including senior government officials and prominent political figures.
The Salt Typhoon hackers also gained access to an extensive list of phone numbers that the Justice Department had tapped to monitor people suspected of espionage, giving them insight into which Chinese spies the U.S. had discovered and which ones they had missed.
China was also behind a “major” hack of the Treasury Department in December, gaining access to unclassified documents and the workstations of government employees.
And earlier this year, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo’s communications were intercepted by Chinese intelligence just as she was making decisions on new export controls on semiconductors and other key technologies.
The same hacking group also targeted State Department officials and members of Congress.
Amid this onslaught of attacks, Coker says the cyber industry is facing a recruitment problem.
“Today there are almost 500,000 open cyber jobs in this great country,” he said.
“The federal government is leading by example…hiring federal employees and contractors is shifting from a focus on college degrees to a focus on what we are really looking for: skills.
“If we eliminate the four-year college degree requirement, we will expand our talent pool,” Coker continued.
“Many Americans don’t have the time or resources to attend four years of college, but they can do it for two years or less.”
