This week is the fall government shutdown only added to the worries about the state of federal cybersecurity—creating the possibility of blind spots or monitoring gaps as more workers are laid off and contributing to the already vast IT backlog of agencies across government.

“Federal IT workers, they have good jobs, there are not enough resources for the issues they have to deal with,” a former national security official, who asked not to be identified because they are not authorized to speak to the press, told WIRED. “It’s always underfunded. They always have to catch up.”

Amélie Koran, a cybersecurity consultant and former chief enterprise security architect for the Department of the Interior, said that one of the most significant effects of the shutdown likely involves the disruption, or in some cases that could end, relationships with specialized government contractors who may have to take other jobs to be paid but whose institutional knowledge is difficult to replace.

Koran added, too, that due to the limited scope of the continuing resolution passed by Congress to reopen the government, “no new contracts and extensions or options can be made, which will run until next year and beyond.”

Although it’s unclear whether the shutdown was a contributing factor, the US Congressional Budget Office said more than five weeks into the trial that it suffered a hack and took steps to prevent the violation. The Washington Post reported at the time the agency was infiltrated by a “suspected foreign actor.” And after years of incredible consequences for US government data breaches—including the 2015 Office of Personnel Management hack carried out in China and the sprawling, multi-agency breach launched in Russia in 2020 commonly referred to as the SolarWinds hack—experts are warning that inconsistent staffing and reduced hiring at key agencies like CISA could have devastating consequences.

“If, not if, we have a major cybersecurity incident within the federal government, we can’t staff additional cybersecurity resources after the fact and expect the same results we get from long-term staff,” said Jake Williams, a former NSA hacker and now vice president of research and development at Hunter Strategy.

The brain drain, Williams said, and any loss of momentum in digital defense, is a serious concern for the US.

“Every day I’m concerned that federal cybersecurity and critical infrastructure protection may be taking a step back,” Williams said. “We have to keep ahead of the curve.”