Spending on cybersecurity, research and development, and basic science could take a hit from the two-year cap on nondefense discretionary spending included in the debt measure negotiated between Speaker Kevin McCarthy and President Joe Biden.
While the legislation “doesn’t expressly cut cybersecurity spending, the caps will constrain overall funding and make it harder for future investments to be authorized,” Linda Moore, CEO of TechNet, a trade association of tech CEOs, said in an email.
Cybersecurity “requires constant advancements and innovations to remain effective, and the threat from our foreign adversaries to steal our data and disrupt our critical infrastructure remains high,” Moore said.
Jen Easterly, director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, said steady funding is essential to meeting evolving threats.
“We can’t PSA our way out of this,” Easterly said, referring to public service announcements about the importance of cybersecurity, given the threats that well-resourced, sophisticated nations present.
