During the first few months of the new Trump administration, the White House slashed cybersecurity budgets, staff, and initiatives. And some, including cybersecurity experts and legislators, are not happy about it.
One of them is Colin Ahern, the chief cyber officer for the state of New York. In a recent interview with Madconsole, Ahern said that both he and New York Governor Kathy Hochul are worried that the Trump administration’s cuts to cybersecurity are putting the country at risk.
“We work with the federal government day in and day out. We need and want the federal government to be effective,” Ahern told Madconsole. “I think it’s no secret that we are concerned about some of the things — many of the things, in fact — that we’re seeing with the ‘Big Ugly Bill,’ with the rescissions that just passed,” said Ahern, referring to Trump’s flagship budget that passed in early July.
Trump’s cybersecurity cuts have been wide-ranging and far-reaching.
Since taking office, the Trump administration has fired over a hundred employees at CISA, some of whom the government had to call back after a court ruling reversed the decision. Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act cut cybersecurity spending across federal agencies by more than $1.2 billion, including cutting CISA’s budget by $135 million, all the while earmarking $1 billion over the next four years for offensive cyber operations for overseas hacking operations.
Meanwhile, The White House’s nomination for national cyber director was criticized for his lack of prior experience in the field, and the U.S. Department of Education suspended a cybersecurity support initiative for K-12 schools.
“Everybody wants a federal government that has significant capabilities to deter our adversaries that is resilient against cyberattacks and other attacks from our enemies,” Ahern told Madconsole. “Like we’ve said publicly, we do think that what’s happening in Washington is putting those things at risk.”
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While the U.S. federal government shoulders much of the responsibility for the country’s cybersecurity, individual states share a significant mandate to secure their own networks, state organizations like public schools, as well as those of critical infrastructure, such as water utilities. But some of the funding for that comes from Washington.
Earlier this month, Hochul wrote a letter to U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem to ask for funding available under the Homeland Security Grant Program (HSGP), which provides state and local agencies with funds to improve security both in the real world and online.
“HSGP funding is vital to securing and maintaining critical infrastructure assets (transportation hubs, power grids, water systems, communication networks),” wrote Hochul, who urged Noem to make funds available “immediately.”
While Ahern acknowledges the challenges with the federal government, he said it doesn’t mean the state is “standing still.”
“We’re continuing to invest our time, our resources, and our energy in building relationships across state lines, across party lines, [and] relationships with our county and our local governments so that we can continue to provide the safe, resilient and affordable New York that we think has really made New York the cultural, financial, and economic center that it remains,” he said.
According to Ahern, Hochul has been vocal and active in her efforts to improve cybersecurity in New York.
Last month, the governor signed new legislation that will require anyone working with a computer in a state, city, county, or district government office in the state of New York to take cybersecurity awareness training. The law will also mandate state government offices that are victims of cyberattacks to report the incidents to the state’s homeland security office within 72 hours, and ransomware payments within 24 hours, among other provisions.
Last week, Hochul also announced new proposed legislation to start a new grant program for water and wastewater organizations with the goal of helping them fund upgrades that they will have to come up with to comply with upcoming regulations.
Ahern told Madconsole that the state government is opening a new office in New York City to be staffed with several technologists, including cybersecurity personnel. Ahern said he hopes to recruit some who lost their jobs because of the Trump administration.
“DOGE says you’re fired. New York says you’re hired,” said Ahern, referring to the government’s public slogan for this hiring effort.
