DHS Official Emphasizes Importance of Partnerships in Gov’t Cybersecurity Effort

The head of the Department of Homeland Security’s Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation Program has said that the CDM team seeks to collaborate with client federal agencies to determine cybersecurity solutions appropriate to their unique organizational requirements, Federal News Network reported Wednesday.

CDM Program Manager Kevin Cox told Federal News Network in a recent interview that “we want to make sure we are working with the agencies to understand” what they need to strengthen their systems and networks against cyber threats and “in the long run meet those requirements.”

The Homeland Security official also sought to dispel the notion that the CDM seeks to foist solutions on agencies, insisting, again, upon a focus on requirements, adding that “if an agency can show those requirements, then we will take the data from that system to meet the requirement.”

Cox went on to emphasize the importance of building partnerships for the effectiveness and success of the CDM program.

The Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation Program aims to minimize cybersecurity risks to government information networks and systems by providing requisite tools, capabilities and services.

The CDM was established by Congress.