US cyber defense agency loses five of six division chiefs amid attacks

By Jun. 30, five of CISA’s six operational divisions will lack Senate-confirmed directors, creating its worst leadership crisis since the agency’s 2018 creation.

CISA is responsible for coordinating protection across 16 critical infrastructure sectors, including healthcare, energy, transportation, water and communications.

Hospitals and other critical infrastructure partners report week-long delays for federal ransomware response when CISA assistance is requested.

Chinese and Russian nation-state hackers have launched the largest wave of ransomware attacks on U.S. infrastructure in two years, timed to exploit CISA’s leadership vacuum.

Interim CISA leaders often lack full security clearances, preventing effective sharing of classified threat intelligence with the intelligence community.