Is the 'Shields Up' era of CISA over?

Is the 'Shields Up' era of CISA over?

From Safe Mode Podcast by Safe Mode Podcast

February 26, 2026 · 33 min

About this episode

The episode discusses the challenges faced by CISA under the Trump administration and features insights from experts on the current threat landscape.

One year into the second Trump administration, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) is facing what former officials and industry partners describe in stark terms: “decimated,” “amateur hour,” and “pretty much fallen apart.” In this episode, Greg Otto dives in with Tim Starks to unpack what’s happened inside the nation’s lead civilian cyber defense agency—and what it could mean for the country’s ability to withstand the next major cyber crisis. In the interview segment, we bring two experts from the DOD's Cyber Crime Center to speak about what they're seeing on the threat landscape.

People in this episode

Host: Greg Otto

Guest: Tim Starks

Topics covered

  • CISA
  • cybersecurity
  • cyber defense
  • Trump administration
  • threat landscape
  • cyber crisis

Keywords

  • CISA
  • cybersecurity
  • Trump administration
  • cyber defense
  • threat landscape
  • cyber crisis

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, DOD's Cyber Crime Center

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