Connect with us

Tech News

Biden signs new cyber order days before Trump inauguration

Published

11 hours ago

on

Biden signs new cyber order days before Trump inauguration

President Joe Biden, in one of his final acts before the inauguration of president-elect Donald Trump, signed a cyber security executive order (EO) to enhance the US’ cyber security measures. The EO aims to improve accountability for software and cloud service providers, strengthen government IT infrastructure security, promote security best practices, foster innovation, and address malicious cyber threats originating from other jurisdictions.

Biden emphasized the significant threat posed by malicious cyber activities to national security, foreign policy, and the economy of the United States. He stated that these activities disrupt critical services, cost billions of dollars, and undermine security and privacy, necessitating further action to enhance cyber security.

Core provisions

Key provisions of the EO include new reporting requirements for software suppliers to the US government, secure software development attestations overseen by the Cyber Security and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), adoption of industry best practices in identity and access management (IAM), implementation of strong authentication and encryption, modernization of infrastructure, and enforcement of cyber best practices in various areas.

The EO also calls for accelerated research in artificial intelligence (AI) and security, post-quantum encryption, and steps to combat cyber threats by blocking property or interests in property in the US from individuals engaged in malicious cyber activities.

Support

Gary Barlet, Illumio public sector chief technology officer and former US government CIO, praised the EO for its proposals to enhance the nation’s cyber security posture. He highlighted the importance of collaboration in implementing the measures to effectively counter nation-state threat actors.

See also  UK data regulator should investigate police cloud deployments

Overruled?

Barlet noted that the success of the EO would depend on the policy priorities of the incoming administration. He expressed hope that the next administration would build on the progress made in federal cyber security posture and collaboration efforts.

While President Trump is expected to sign new EOs after taking office, it remains to be seen if immediate action will be taken on cyber security. The transition team had not discussed the EO’s content with Trump’s team, but they were open to future discussions. Reports suggest that Sean Plankey, a cyber veteran, may lead CISA in the upcoming administration.

The deputy national security advisor for cyber and emerging technology expressed optimism that the bipartisan aims of the EO would be continued by the next president.

Related Topics:
Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Trending