Trump’s DHS Guts Board to Investigate China’s Salt Typhoon

The Trump administration has reshuffled the Department of Homeland Security’s advisers, firing key people who helped the department investigate cyber threats.

“Consistent with the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) commitment to eliminating the misuse of resources and ensuring that DHS operations prioritize our national security, I hereby order the termination of all current members of advisory committees within DHS, effective immediately. ,” he said. letter signed by managing director Benjamine C. Huffman.

“The actions of future committees will be focused on advancing our critical mission of protecting the homeland and supporting the needs of DHS. To the outgoing board members, you are welcome to reapply, thank you for your service.”

The removal included members of DHS’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) Cyber ​​Safety Review Board (CSRB). The CSRB contacted DHS officials and civilians with expertise in cyber security and tasked them with investigating cyber threats.

The agency came to light after investigating major hacking incidents including the Log4Shell vulnerability, the Lapsus$ hacking group, and the Microsoft Exchange inbox compromise in 2023. The agency is investigating the CCP-backed Salt Storm, a hacking group that compromised major telecom companies. in the last few years.

One of the terminated members is Chris Krebs, SentinelOne’s Chief Intelligence Officer. Krebs previously served as CISA director but was fired by Trump after he criticized the president’s claims that he would interfere in the 2020 election. “He should be drawn and quartered. He was taken out at dawn and shot,” one of Trump’s lawyers said. said Krebs at that time.

The letter was signed by DHS Administrator Benjamine C. Huffman but echoes the position of Acting Director Kristi Noem and several other Republicans. At his confirmation hearing last week, Noem said that CISA “reached far from the job.”

Noem’s complaint is that CISA is working to combat disinformation and disinformation on the Internet. “CISA needs to be more efficient, smaller, smarter, to really do their job,” he said. “His job is hunting and drying. I am finding these criminals and helping to work with local and state agencies to help them be ready to fight such a war. “

This is what it has been doing since the Trump administration came into office. The blanket removal of CSRB members and other DHS advisory roles would delay the investigation of Salt Storm and other threats. If you are a hacker with malicious intent, now is a good time to sneak under the radar.