Succinct and to the point, was the statement that Chris Krebs responded to Donald Trump on Twitter, post Trump firing the Director of Cybersecurity and Infrastructure for the Department of Homeland Security in the US.
In typical Trump style, the firing was announced over Twitter, coming after the statement from the director that there was “no evidence that any voting system deleted or lost votes, changed votes, or was in any way compromised”. He highlighted that “on allegations that election systems were manipulated, 59 election security experts all agree”, the allegations are unproven.
As a part of President Trump refusing to concede to Joe Biden, Chris Krebs statements flies in the face of the presidents claim that the 2020 election was rigged through voter fraud. The President targeted Chris Krebs, highlighting his statement regarding the security of the election was “highly inaccurate”.
The world has become accustom to President Trumps public beratings, with them seemingly being common and therefore unsurprising.
The reaction from Chris Krebs however is textbook of an experienced expert operating at the top of their game. Chris Krebs clearly was not going to compromise his beliefs and expert opinion. It has been reported in recent days that he did not fear being fired by the president, and his re-tweet highlights that his primary focus is the security of the systems and data he is accountable for.
For leaders of organisations these events act as a reminder. Even though at times it is not palatable, desirable, or easy to except what your security and infrastructure leaders are saying, in the majority they are doing their best to protect the organisation from attack, loss of data and system outages.
Cyber security is an ongoing fight against unknown actors. With more state backing, these attacks are becoming increasingly well-funded, driving more and more complexity and potential damage. With Cyber Security talent becoming harder to find, and in-house teams becoming stretched. Weekly it is being repeated that the good guys are loosing the battle against more extreme attacks. Contact Fundamentals First about how our outsourced SOC will operate as an extension to your in-house teams, providing the increased protection you require.
