Editor’s note: This story was updated on 1-22-25 to reflect that Chris Krebs resigned from the CSRB on Jan. 18, prior to President Trump taking office.
NEWS BRIEF
In its first full day, the Trump administration axed all advisory committee members within the Department of Homeland Security, including the people that make up the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s (CISA) Cyber Safety Review Board (CSRB). The CSRB was actively working on investigating Salt Typhoon, the Chinese state-sponsored hacking group responsible for breaches of at least nine telecommunications networks in the past several months.
In a letter dated Jan. 20, acting secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Benjamine C. Huffman said the move was meant to avoid a “misuse of resources,” and terminated all current memberships on advisory committees immediately.
Members of the CSRB include a who’s who of cybersecurity, from companies such as Sentinel One, represented by former CISA head Chris Krebs, who was fired in 2020 as head of CISA in the waning days of the previous Trump administration. Prior to the letter, on Jan 18., Krebs preemptively resigned from the board ahead of Trump taking office. The CSRB also included several former Biden administration officials. It was created as part of Biden’s 2021 cybersecurity executive order to “review and assess … significant cyber incidents” impacting the federal executive branch of the US government.
While the letter did not enumerate which…