Texas Cyber Command, national labs emphasize proactive defense and intelligence sharing

TJ White, chief of Texas Cyber Command, said the command activated March 1 and is building statewide capabilities for prevention, readiness and intelligence sharing. He described partnerships with NSA, CISA, FBI and Air Force Cyber Command and said the command is focused on shifting from reactive responses to proactive prevention and statewide scale operations.

Emma Stewart of Idaho National Laboratory emphasized that modern grid equipment depends on firmware, software and remote access and that the risk is defined by what a component can communicate with, who can access it, and what data it sends. She recommended a Texas cyber‑threat intelligence capability that fuses adversary activity with operational‑technology architecture and prioritizes high‑consequence assets (hospitals, military installations) for the most intensive testing and mitigation.

Both witnesses urged stronger supply‑chain verification, tighter controls on remote access (disable unnecessary paths, multifactor authentication and segmentation), and acceleration of domestic trusted manufacturing for critical power electronics.