FBI Director Christopher Wray appeared before the House Appropriations Committee’s commerce, justice, science and related agencies subpanel to discuss the bureau’s budget request, FCW reported Thursday. According to budget documents, the bureau seeks $70.5 million in additional funds to build up cyber tools and data-sharing abilities as well as hire 33 additional employees.
Wray said 25 of the additional employees would focus on data analysis to address the increasing amount of digital information the bureau needs to process and analyze. He noted during the hearing that the need for collaboration with industry and the significance of training programs to “improve the median proficiency†of the FBI’s existing IT and computer security workforce for the bureau’s cyber “black belts†to concentrate on nation-state threat actors.
“There is a swath of cyber-enabled criminal activity that is affecting businesses that is essentially below the level of the most sophisticated stuff that the feds take on but is above the level that currently is in the range of most state and local law enforcement,” Wray said.
