DHS Hosts Second U.S. – EU Cyber Fellowship in Washington D.C.

WASHINGTON – Last week, representatives from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the European Union (EU) gathered to execute on a key deliverable agreed upon by Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas and European Union (EU) Commissioner Thierry Breton in furtherance of the U.S.-EU cooperation envisioned in their joint statements from 2023 and 2024. The three-day U.S.-EU Cyber Fellowship in Washington, D.C. brought together 17 cyber professionals from across DHS and key EU institutions to increase their understanding of how various DHS Components and their government and private partners work to address shared cyber threats and safeguard critical infrastructure. This meeting marks the fellowship’s second convening, following the first iteration hosted by the EU in December 2023 as part of the U.S.-EU Cyber Dialogue in Brussels.

"The security of critical infrastructure requires a global approach with close allies," said DHS Assistant Secretary for Cyber, Infrastructure, Risk and Resilience Iranga Kahangama. "This cyber fellowship strengthened vital partnerships and has laid the groundwork for more effective cooperation across the Atlantic as we continue enhancing our cyber defense and resilience capabilities. We will continue to work together to address the key cyber threats we face as democracies and, wherever possible, align our approaches to raising the cybersecurity defenses of critical infrastructure and the reporting of cybersecurity incidents.”

The fellowship brought together government officials, policymakers, and early-career cybersecurity experts from across DHS Components including the Office of Policy, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), the United States Coast Guard (USCG), the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), the Science and Technology Directorate, and the Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO). The DHS representatives were joined by EU representatives from the Commission’s Directorate-General Communications Networks, Content and Technology (DG CONNECT) and the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA). The delegation met with senior officials from the White House, U.S. Congress, DHS, Departments of Commerce, Energy, Justice, State, and leading academic and industry groups.

During its meeting, the fellowship shared insights and discussed areas for future cooperation on topics such as cybersecurity regulatory alignment, cyber incident reporting, secure software, and ensuring safe and secure adoption of Artificial Intelligence. The fellowship also included an overview of the U.S. cybersecurity policy landscape; initiatives and strategies for protecting transportation systems like rail, aviation, and ports; improving collaboration between Government and industry; and incident response and crisis management protocols.

This fellowship builds on the already robust DHS-EU relationship that has been accomplished. Directed by the joint statements, DHS and the EU released a comparative assessment of the Cyber Incident Reporting Council recommendations on incident reporting and the NIS 2 directive on March 20, 2024. The two sides have also conducted several workshops and exchanges on the cybersecurity of hardware and software and the cybersecurity of emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, and the parties have finalized a work plan between ENISA and CISA.

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