Gardner, Thune Urge Commerce, DOT to Commit to Improving Their Cybersecurity

Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., and Senate Cybersecurity Caucus co-Chairman Cory Gardner, R-Colo., sent letters Thursday to Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao (here) and Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross (here) urging them to “commit to making the cybersecurity of the Department’s systems a top priority and that you keep the Committee informed as you plan to implement this effort.” Thune vowed during a Wednesday Senate Commerce hearing on emerging technologies' cybersecurity issues to seek cyber commitments from Chao and Ross (see 1703220072). “Recent Office of Inspector General reports have found [Transportation's] cybersecurity program remains ineffective and many of its information security controls are deficient,” Gardner and Thune said in their letter to Chao: GAO "has made approximately 2,500 recommendations to improve information security programs across the federal government over the past several years. Departments and agencies have yet to implement many of these recommendations.”