DHS Official Touts Response Time for Patching Cyber Vulnerabilities

The Department of Homeland Security reduced the time it takes to patch a cyber vulnerability to within 30 days, Assistant Homeland Security Secretary for Cybersecurity and Communications Jeanette Manfra said in an interview for C-SPAN's The Communicators series, set to be televised later She conceded the agency struggled with patching vulnerabilities in an acceptable amount of time in the past. Shrinking the response had a ripple effect throughout the federal government, she said. The digital economy is so interconnected that cyber infections can spread quickly across the world, she said, calling cyberthreats a “constant, ever-present activity that everyone has to face.” She said the department had “limited visibility” of foreign influence campaigns in the 2016 election. DHS has worked hard in the past two years to deploy more “sensing capabilities,” particularly with state and local authorities, she said, and more than 1,500 jurisdictions participate in information sharing.