She ended her appearance saying it was critical to be trustworthy. “We have to be trustworthy or the American people will not allow us to continue working for them,” Noem said in closing.

Noem referenced her experience with championing cybersecurity as governor of South Dakota throughout her remarks. She said she feels that most innovation in this area can happen at the state level, especially through partnerships with academia and the private sector.

Noem reiterated that China continues to be the biggest cyber threat to the US, and CISA needs to be the country’s cyber defense agency to provide stakeholders with security, resilience, and advice for crisis situations.

Her vision for CISA appears to focus heavily on partnership with the private sector and academia, with the agency focused on assisting SMBs, critical infrastructure, and supporting state and local governments. As a note, new leadership for CISA directly has not yet been approved by the U.S. Senate.

Noem said that she is committed to CISA and that it is being reformed in a way that it won’t “just be talking about cybersecurity, we’re going to do it.”

Noem said the mission of DHS is to secure the US and “to do so with integrity” in a way that honors what our founders gave us, adding that “cybersecurity is national security.”