DHS Nominee Johnson Commits to Improving Department’s Cybersecurity Performance
Secretary of Homeland Security nominee Jeh Johnson told the Senate Homeland Security Committee Wednesday that he will “vigorously pursue” the Department of Homeland Security’s missions, which include a significant role in cybersecurity. “We need to move the ball forward on cybersecurity,” he said. Johnson, the Department of Defense’s former general counsel, was a main participant in legal discussions regarding the department’s cybersecurity policies (CD Oct 21 p8). Committee Chairman Tom Carper, D-Del., said cybersecurity is a “very important issue” for DHS, but the committee largely ignored it during Thursday’s hearing, with most senators focusing on how Johnson would fix management issues plaguing the department. Ranking member Tom Coburn, R-Okla., and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said during the hearing they expect Johnson will be confirmed, though McCain said he doesn’t currently support Johnson. Committee Democrats at the hearing uniformly supported Johnson’s confirmation.
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Carper said near the end of the hearing that he and Coburn expect to talk extensively with Johnson about DHS’s cybersecurity role after Johnson’s confirmation. Carper said he and Coburn have been talking for months about DHS’s cybersecurity role, including its obligations under the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA), efforts to improve the department’s cybersecurity workforce, research and development investments and DHS’s role in implementing major portions of President Barack Obama’s cybersecurity executive order.
Johnson committed to working with the committee to improve DHS’s track record on cybersecurity before DHS tries to ask for new cyber authority, responding to Coburn’s criticism of the department’s cybersecurity track record. Coburn noted that although DHS has “significant responsibilities” related to cybersecurity, recent DHS inspector general reports have been highly critical of the department’s performance. The most recent report, issued earlier this month, found that DHS continues to face significant technical issues, a lack of specialized training and poor communication with other federal cybersecurity centers (CD Nov 5 p7). An audit of DHS’s FISMA compliance, released in June, found that the department was having trouble adhering to its own FISMA guidelines (http://1.usa.gov/16bwppa). The FISMA audit raises questions about whether DHS has the ability to execute cybersecurity at other federal agencies “if they don’t even follow their own rules,” Coburn said. “We have to make sure DHS is doing it well before we ask everybody else to do it well.”
Johnson also committed to Coburn’s request that DHS provide the committee with previously requested contracts, incident logs, project plans and other documents showing how DHS conducts its cybersecurity programs. DHS officials had become notoriously slow in providing the committee with documents and data it requested, Coburn said. Johnson later noted that he also believes it’s important for DHS to work effectively with state and local partners on cybersecurity issues.
Johnson said his “immediate priority” after confirmation would be to fill key department leadership positions that remain vacant. DHS has vacancies in about 40 percent of its top leadership positions, including the department’s deputy secretary and the undersecretary for the National Protection & Programs Directorate, which oversees most DHS cybersecurity activities. Rafael Borras is the acting deputy secretary and Suzanne Spaulding is the acting undersecretary for NPPD. Rand Beers is acting DHS secretary until the Senate confirms a permanent replacement; former DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano resigned in September. Carper said part of the onus is also on the Senate to confirm Obama’s nominees for DHS positions. “We've got to help you get that team around you,” he told Johnson. Obama has nominated Spaulding to permanently take over as NPPD undersecretary and nominated U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Alejandro Mayorkas as deputy DHS secretary. The committee voted in favor of Spaulding but the Senate has not yet scheduled a vote. The committee has not yet voted on Mayorkas.