‘You’re fired’ - Salt Typhoon investigative body gets the axe in US government cuts

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The board responsible for investigating recent Salt Typhoon cyberattacks has reportedly been fired
All DHS advisory boards cut to "improve efficiency"
Advisory board members told they are free to reapply in the future

The advisory board responsible for investigating the Chinese state-sponsored Salt Typhoon cyberattack which compromised numerous US telecommunications providers, and a wire-tapping backdoor used by the authorities, has apparently been fired just days after the inauguration of President Trump.

The Cyber Safety Review Board (CSRB) was one of many advisory boards working within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to be cut in what has been justified in a letter by acting secretary of the DHS, Benjamin C. Huffman, as a way to “eliminate a misuse of resources.”

“Future committee activities will be focused solely on advancing our critical mission to protect the homeland and support DHS’s strategic priorities,” the letter continued.

Back to square one

The Salt Typhoon cyberattack has been labelled as one of the most damaging cyberattacks against the telecommunications industry, with the CSRB acting as a transparent investigative body tasked with uncovering how the attack unfolded, and what vulnerabilities need to be addressed.

The letter further states that those terminated “are welcome to reapply” to future advisory boards. However, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters, “As a practical matter, unless they bring original members back, they'd probably have to start from scratch,” meaning that all progress up to this point in the investigation has been rendered moot.

On day one, President Trump enacted over 200 executive orders including the introduction of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), an advisory group with a mission to bring “competence and effectiveness to our federal government,” Trump said in his inaugural speech.

In the executive order, DOGE has been initially tasked with modernizing government network infrastructure and IT systems. The group has also been given access to a range of “unclassified” government systems, including agency records and IT systems, “consistent with law.” It’s unclear if the elimination of DHS advisory boards was on behalf of DOGE.

Via DarkReading

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Benedict has been writing about security issues for over 7 years, first focusing on geopolitics and international relations while at the University of Buckingham. During this time he studied BA Politics with Journalism, for which he received a second-class honours (upper division), then continuing his studies at a postgraduate level, achieving a distinction in MA Security, Intelligence and Diplomacy. Upon joining TechRadar Pro as a Staff Writer, Benedict transitioned his focus towards cybersecurity, exploring state-sponsored threat actors, malware, social engineering, and national security. Benedict is also an expert on B2B security products, including firewalls, antivirus, endpoint security, and password management.