Senator Hassan Meets with New Hampshire’s New Federally Funded Cyber Coordinator, Rick Rossi

MANCHESTER – Following Senator Maggie Hassan’s successful bipartisan push to create a cybersecurity coordinator position in every state, yesterday Senator Hassan met with New Hampshire’s cybersecurity coordinator, Rick Rossi. Mr. Rossi, along with the other cybersecurity coordinators across the country, help to prevent and respond to cyberattacks and increase communication between non-federal entities and the federal government. Senator Hassan also met with Matt McCann, Regional Director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA).

“Businesses, schools, and state and local governments, including here in New Hampshire, know the devastating impact that a cyberattack can have,” Senator Hassan said. “By acting as a link between the federal government and state, local, and private entities, Mr. Rossi’s coordination and expertise will help strengthen our state’s cybersecurity. I was glad to lead bipartisan efforts to create a cybersecurity coordinator position in every state, and I will continue to work across the aisle to address the threat of cyberattacks.”

“I am excited for the opportunity to support cybersecurity resilience in New Hampshire and look forward to continuing the strong partnerships already in place,” said Mr. Rossi. “CISA stands ready to help critical infrastructure partners throughout the state who are in need of our services.” 

“I’m grateful to Senator Hassan for her leadership in strengthening cybersecurity through championing the creation of state cybersecurity coordinator positions,” Mr. McCann said. “We appreciated having the opportunity to collaborate with Senator Hassan today on how government and private sector entities can work together.”

For non-federal entities in need of cybersecurity assistance, please reach out to: cyberadvisor@cisa.dhs.gov

Senator Hassan is leading bipartisan efforts to strengthen cybersecurity across all levels of government. The bipartisan infrastructure package that is now on its way to the President’s desk includes Senator Hassan’s measure to create a state and local cybersecurity grant program. Furthermore, in an effort to strengthen cybersecurity within the federal government, Senators Hassan and Rob Portman (R-OH) passed into law the bipartisan Hack DHS Act, which establishes a bug bounty pilot program – modeled off of similar programs at the Department of Defense and major tech companies – that uses vetted “white-hat” or ethical hackers to help identify unique and undiscovered vulnerabilities in the DHS networks and information technology.

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