Red Alert: CISA's Budget Cuts and the Fallout for Defenders

CISA, the U.S. government’s lead cyber defense agency, just took a major financial hit—and the fallout could affect everyone. From layoffs and ISAC cuts to a near-shutdown of the CVE program, these changes weaken critical infrastructure for cyber defense. In this episode of Cyberside Chats, we unpack what’s been cut, how it impacts proactive services like free risk assessments and scanning, and what your organization should do to stay ahead. 

Takeaways: 

• Don’t wait for Washington—assume support from CISA and ISACs may be slower or scaled back. 

• Map your dependencies on CISA services and plan alternatives for scans, intel, and assessments. 

• Budget for gaps—prepare to replace free services with commercial or internal resources. 

• Subscribe to non-government threat intelligence feeds and monitor them regularly. 

• Prioritize and prepare your response to zero-days and software exploits, knowing CVE and intel delays give attackers more time. 

• Build local and sector connections to share threat info informally if national channels slow down. 

Resources: 

MITRE CVE Program - The central hub for CVE IDs, program background, and tracking published vulnerabilities.  https://www.cve.org 

The CVE Foundation: https://www.thecvefoundation.org/home  

LMG Security Vulnerability Scanning: https://www.lmgsecurity.com/services/testing/vulnerability-scans 

#cybersecurity #cyber #CVE #riskmanagement #infosec #ciso #security