U.S. Reps. Andrew Garbarino (R-NY) and Eric Swalwell (D-CA) recently requested details regarding the new Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) program office goals.
Garbarino, chairman of the Subcommittee on Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Protection, and Swalwell, ranking member, forwarded correspondence to CISA Director Jen Easterly regarding the direction.
“We write to inquire about the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s (CISA) reported plans to establish a new program office to identify systemically important entities (SIE) by the end of September,” the legislators wrote. “Per your remarks at the March 21 Cybersecurity Advisory Committee meeting, we understand you hope to work with each sector risk management agency (SRMA) to identify SIEs in each of the 16 critical infrastructure sectors. Given the vast scope of this initiative and its similarities to other programs previously initiated, we request additional information on CISA’s proposed SIE designation efforts.”
Within the letter, the lawmakers requested information on how the efforts complement or replace existing efforts to mitigate systemic risk to Section 9 entities; secure National Critical Functions (NCF); prioritize assets through the National Critical Infrastructure Prioritization Program; and maintain a National Asset Database.
‘We also hope to understand how the National Risk Management Center (NRMC) and the proposed new SIE office will coordinate and deconflict efforts related to SIEs,” the legislators wrote. “Over the past decade, the federal government has undertaken multiple lines of effort to identify and mitigate risk to functions vital to U.S. national security, national economic security, and national public health and safety.”
The legislators said that CISA should clarify what it intends to accomplish with a new designation and how it relates to existing efforts, including the Section 9 list, national critical functions, and sector-specific systemic risk designations like systemically important financial institutions.