Biden administration unveils critical infrastructure protection initiative

Biden administration officials said efforts are underway to bolster critical infrastructure protections in the wake of expanding and continuous cyber threats.

President Joe Biden’s recent signing of a National Security Memorandum (NSM) on Improving Cybersecurity for Critical Infrastructure Control Systems serves as a means of addressing cybersecurity critical infrastructure while implementing overdue efforts to meet the threats.

The scope of the effort includes directing the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to develop cybersecurity performance goals for critical infrastructure.

Additionally, it establishes the President’s Industrial Control System Cybersecurity (ICS) Initiative.

Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas and Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said Biden’s action takes a key step toward improving critical infrastructure cybersecurity.

“The safety and security of the American people rely on the resilience of the companies that provide essential services such as power, water, and transportation,” Mayorkas and Raimondo said. “The establishment of cybersecurity performance goals marks important progress toward this goal.”

Mayorkas and Raimondo said the agencies look to responsible critical infrastructure owners and operators to follow voluntary guidance to ensure that critical services the American people rely on are protected from cyber threats.

“We are committed to working closely with our partners in the private sector to promote proactive cybersecurity practices that will protect our national and economic security,” Mayorkas and Raimondo concluded.