Biden picks stress need for cybersecurity in confirmation hearings

President-elect Joe Biden’s nominees to serve as secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and as director of national intelligence (DNI) on Tuesday both zeroed in on cybersecurity as being a major priority if confirmed.

DHS secretary nominee Alejandro Mayorkas and DNI nominee Avril Haines both specifically pointed to the need to make improvements following the recently uncovered Russian hack of IT group SolarWinds, which compromised much of the federal government in what is one of the largest cybersecurity breaches in U.S. history.

“I can assure you that the cybersecurity of our nation will be one of my highest priorities because I concur with you that the threat is real and the threat is every day and we have to do a better job than we are doing now,” Mayorkas said during his nomination hearing before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.