A key federal cybersecurity official said Wednesday that changing her agency’s name would be one way to improve morale for her employees.
“One of the things we’re hoping to do is to change our name,” Suzanne Spaulding, undersecretary of the National Protection and Programs Directorate, said to a congressional panel. “I actually think that while that seems superficial, that will also help improve our morale by providing our workforce with a clear sense of their identity.
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“Cyber and infrastructure protection is what we’re all about,” Spaulding said in remarks to the House subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Infrastructure Protection and Security Technologies, suggesting her agency’s name should do a better job of reflecting those things.
She stopped short of providing the committee with suggestions for a new name.
The committee called Spaulding to testify about an alleged plan by Spaulding and her colleagues to reorganize the agency that had leaked to the media. Lawmakers were concerned the agency, which falls under the Department of Homeland Security, was attempting to take action without proper congressional oversight.
However, any hostilities quickly fizzled as Spaulding emphasized that nothing had been finalized, and that she fully supported the role of Congress in the process. “I understand the committee’s frustration … Information related to the changes that were under consideration leaked prematurely to the media,” Spaulding said.
“Unfortunately, in trying to be transparent with my workforce … we’ve increased the number of people who have this information, and who have the potential to go and talk to the press,” she added.
Committee Chairman John Ratcliffe, R-Texas, emphasized the role of congressional oversight in his opening remarks. “Congress needs to first determine whether or not the proposal would establish a clear operational mission for the directorate, streamline the organizational structure, and can be effectively carried out by a qualified workforce,” Ratcliffe said.
On Tuesday, the House passed bipartisan legislation seeking to define the parameters of any reorganization. The legislation would grant the directorate the authority to do more to identify and attribute responsibility for attacks, provide more assistance to private institutions that have been targeted, and to serve as a more efficient hub for information sharing between federal and civilian institutions.
As agency officials and members of Congress discovered agreement on the key areas of concern, the conversation strayed to other topics, including the challenge of recruiting a talented workforce. That was when Spaulding offered the name change as a way of improving morale.
Chris Currie, an official in charge of critical infrastructure protection at the Department of Homeland Security, offered a more practical solution: less bureaucracy. “I think it’s pretty clear that the types of individuals with the specializations and experience you need are very attractive to those in the private sector that are looking for the same skills and can pay much more,” Currie said.
“The process of federal hiring can be a disincentive too,” he added. “It can often take a very long time, six months to a year, to get processed. They have to undergo very stringent personnel background checks, and in these positions, probably have to get top secret or compartmentalized security clearances, and that takes even more time.”
Attracting recruits willing to submit themselves to that process was critical to the future of American defense capability, Currie said, adding that the directorate “occupies unique mission space.”
“The threat we face today is increasingly elusive, unpredictable and violent,” Currie said, and “increasingly extends across physical and cyber domains.”
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Ratcliffe said his committee will with the agencies to ensure they have the resources they need, saying he looks forward to “working together to craft authorization legislation” for the directorate that would ensure “the tools and proper authorities to defend this nation from both cyber and physical threats.”
