CISA released a 2030 strategy on Monday that aims to concentrate resources on the most vital infrastructure, directing the agency toward a defense of essential systems based on risk.
Risk-informed focus replaces broad-sweep tactics
The plan calls for using intelligence on hacking threats and the likely impact of intrusions to guide assistance and investment. It stresses removing malicious actors before they can disrupt operations.
Priority will go to infrastructure whose loss would most affect public safety, the economy, and national security. The strategy does not list which services will see reduced funding or which components will receive top priority.
Review schedule and staffing rebuild
The agency will start reviewing core services and capabilities within 60 days, with the aim of aligning them to the new objectives. An implementation approach and measurement framework must be delivered within 180 days, and a progress update is due within 365 days.
The plan comes as CISA works to rebuild after workforce reductions in President Donald Trump’s second term have impacted roughly a third of its staff. Acting Director Nick Andersen said in September that about 250 prospective employees had tentative offers and were awaiting clearance, with hiring focused on operational teams and regional personnel. Over the last several weeks, CISA has regularly posted LinkedIn updates highlighting batches of new hires.
The document argues that CISA’s shifting responsibilities and “unclear” priorities have weakened its focus. The agency does not name specific programs, though the criticism follows the administration’s push to curtail much of the agency’s election security and disinformation work, which Trump officials have characterized as censorship and mission overreach.
Andersen calls for an “aggressive, anticipatory stance” to remove adversaries from defense-critical infrastructure before they can use that access against the United States. “We must ensure that when adversaries gain a foothold, we are prepared to detect them quickly, evict them decisively, and keep critical operations running without interruption,” he writes in the strategy document.
The strategy calls for tighter coordination with intelligence agencies and infrastructure operators, enhanced threat alerts, and assistance to the White House in developing a National Risk Register to identify and quantify infrastructure risks.
Additional priorities include safeguarding operational technology that controls physical processes at water plants and factories, issuing software-security guidance, and addressing risks from artificial intelligence, described in the document under Trump-era terms as “super intelligence”, and quantum computing.
The plan also seeks to expand emergency communications by leveraging newer cellular networks and commercial satellites. It does not establish new legal authorities.
