The Trump administration’s massive cuts to federal cybersecurity programs have produced a ripple effect that is eroding industry confidence in the government and placing enormous strain on companies’ security teams, according to a report released Wednesday by Swimlane.
The report — based on a survey of 500 IT and cybersecurity decision makers in the U.S. and the U.K. — finds that 85% of organizations have faced budget or resource cuts over the past six months.
Almost half of companies plan to reduce plans to invest in cybersecurity, the report said, and eight in 10 respondents fear the government budget reductions will hinder intelligence sharing.
Since taking office in January, President Donald Trump has cut thousands of employees at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and other agencies with cyber missions. He has also disbanded several cyber advisory panels, including the Cyber Safety Review Board.
The concerns raised in the report echo similar worries that longtime national security and cyber experts have voiced in recent months.
“We have been closely monitoring the cuts that impact the federal government’s ability to work with the private sector on cybersecurity issues,” said Annie Fixler, director of the Center on Cyber and Technology Innovation at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. “A number of the cuts have also undermined the private sector’s access to timely cyber threat information.”
Beyond CISA, there are other resources available to help companies address their cyber risks. Swimlane executives said one potential solution would be to convert information sharing and analysis centers into more open organizations.
“By moving away from the current pay-to-play model, which is often segmented and slow to adapt, this inclusive approach could encourage broader participation and enable faster, more effective threat intelligence sharing across industries,” Mike Lyborg, CISO at Swimlane, told Cybersecurity Dive.
Scott Algeier, executive director at the IT-ISAC, said companies are concerned about CISA’s ability to analyze and distribute threat intelligence, but he emphasized that companies have never relied entirely on the government to provide threat information.
The federal budget cuts have also had ripple effects across the Atlantic, according to the report. Roughly eight in 10 British organizations surveyed said the U.S. instability had made them more cautious about working with American vendors. Four in 10 of those organizations have reassessed their existing partnerships with U.S. firms, while three in 10 have either delayed or canceled contracts
