From: The Hill
By Kevin Bogardus
Cybersecurity is fast becoming good business for K Street.
The question of how the country should defend against online threats has received increased attention from Congress and from President Obama, who took executive action last month to try and prevent attacks on the country’s networks.
Robert Efrus, a long-time Washington hand, is one of many lobbyists working the issue.
“It is a growing niche on K Street,” Efrus said. “I think there are a lot of new players that are seeing action with the executive order and legislation being on worked in Congress, not forgetting the funding opportunities. A lot of tech lobbyists have upped their involvement in cyber for sure.”
Efrus was a vice president at the K Street giant Van Scoyoc Associates for 10 years, before starting his own firm, Efrus Federal Advisors, on Jan. 1. He has registered eight clients since then, primarily software companies like the security firm Symantec, records show.
“From a lobbying perspective, with everything else going south, this is one of the few positive developments in the whole federal policy arena,” said Efrus, who worked at NASA and on Capitol Hill for former Sen. Paul Trible (R-Va.).
It’s not just tech companies that are concerned about cybersecurity. Companies that run critical infrastructure in banking, energy and transportation are facing increased demands from the government to bolster their security.
“Financial services, telecommunications, transportation — all these industries are concerned about cybersecurity. They are all registering to lobby on it too,” said Matt Tanielian, co-founder of the Franklin Square Group. “It is not just a technology issue anymore.”
Tanielian said his firm gets questions from all its clients on the issue. Franklin Square Group even signed up a new client last August — Salesforce.com, a San Francisco-based cloud computing company — that wants help keeping tabs on cybersecurity developments, according to records.
Lobbyists note that cybersecurity is one of the few areas where budget-conscious lawmakers are looking to spend.
In a funding resolution passed on Wednesday, the House gave greater flexibility to the Homeland Security Department on how to spend more than $1.1 billion in cybersecurity funds, including $218 million to help pay for “continuous monitoring” of federal computer networks and other activities.
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