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- The White House embedded a recruitment message into its website’s HTML code on Wednesday.
- “If you’re reading this, we need your help building back better,” it read, followed by a link the US Digital Service’s (USDS) website.
- The USDS, a “startup at the White House” founded by Obama in 2014, is focused on cybersecurity.
As President Joe Biden was sworn into office on Wednesday, the White House made changes to its official website – including burying a recruitment message for coders in its HTML code.
The White House’s internal tech team, the United States Digital Service (USDS), said in the HTML code: “If you’re reading this, we need your help building back better.”
The message is followed by a link to USDS’s website, as Protocol first reported.
As part of Biden’s $1.9 trillion rescue package, roughly $10 billion will be injected into cybersecurity and IT modernization.
The USDS, a “startup at the White House” founded by Obama in 2014, will get $200 million, in part to help fund its growth.
The service is staffed by many Silicon Valley alums, including cybersecurity and engineering experts.
The agency is responsible for bringing private sector expertise to the public sector, and advancing the new administration's IT and cybersecurity capabilities.
In the aftermath of the SolarWinds hack that threatened the security of major companies, as well as the US government, Biden said his administration would make cybersecurity a "top priority" from its first day.