Lawrence Livermore tells House CyberCentury agreement expired; sensors still deployed but analysts stopped monitoring
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Summary
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory informed the House subcommittee its agreements to analyze CyberCentury sensor data lapsed and its threat-hunting stopped, leaving deployed sensors collecting data that the lab said it is not authorized to analyze until interagency funding arrangements are executed.
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory told the House Homeland Security Subcommittee that its agreements with the Department of Homeland Security to analyze data from the CyberCentury program have expired, temporarily halting active threat hunting despite sensors remaining on partner networks.
“Currently, we have agreements that are making their way through DHS processes. Unfortunately, those are still making their way through DHS processes, and our work with CISA expired, last Sunday,” Dr. Nate Gleason, program leader for cyber and infrastructure resilience at Lawrence Livermore, told the subcommittee. Gleason said the lab’s threat-hunting team “stopped monitoring networks on Sunday.”
Why it matters: CyberCentury — authorized in the fiscal year 2022 National Defense Authorization Act and described in testimony as a voluntary partnership that places sensors on participating critical infrastructure networks — pairs national-lab analytics with private-sector telemetry to detect novel threats. Witnesses credited the program with detecting suspicious devices and malware during prior operations.
Gleason said sensors remain deployed and continue to gather telemetry but that lab analysts are not legally operating without funding and authority. When Rep. Adam B. Swalwell pressed on the operational effect, Gleason answered bluntly: “National laboratories are not legally able to operate without being funded by a government agency. So our threat hunters, stopped monitoring networks on Sunday.”
Committee members and witnesses described the lapse as a potential blind spot: data are collecting on critical infrastructure networks, but the lab said it cannot analyze that data until interagency agreements between DHS and DOE are completed and signed.
The exchange prompted lawmakers to press for a rapid resolution to restore analysis capability. The hearing record was left open for 10 days to accept follow-up materials and written answers.