Cybersecurity

CFPB Data Imperiled by Cybersecurity Contract Cancellation, Ex-Official Says

  • Former chief technologist warns that agency will be hobbled
  • Cyber contracts included audits, IT management services

The US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau headquarters in Washington, DC.

Photographer: Al Drago/Bloomberg
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The cancellation of nearly three-dozen cybersecurity contracts at the US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau endangers the security of sensitive data maintained by the federal watchdog, a former senior official at the bureau said in court documents filed Friday.

Former CFPB chief technologist Erie Meyer said that a rush to terminate contracts raises serious concerns about data preservation and the bureau’s overall ability to function. The cancellations came as part of a Trump administration effort to disable the CFPB by suspending its oversight, closing its Washington headquarters, and firing its director as well as many other employees.