The House Oversight Committee's Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Information Technology, and Government Innovation plans to hold a hearing on Thursday to discuss ways to improve cybersecurity. This session follows the recent CloudStrike software error, which resulted in one of the most significant Microsoft server outages in history. The hearing aims to evaluate whether the current regulatory environment contributed to these failures and if government procurement decisions may expose federal actors and stakeholders to similar risks in the future.
The Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA) has long discussed competition issues, including those related to government procurement.
Brian McMillan, CCIA Vice President for Federal Affairs, stated: "The latest global IT outage highlights a concerning trend of vulnerabilities that can affect government servers, which can be greatly reduced by ensuring increased competition in the procurement space. Depending on few or single vendors is not the answer. We appreciate the House Oversight Committee looking at the broader regulatory environment to encourage improvements to cybersecurity in their own backyard."
