You know it’s time to start thinking more seriously about cybersecurity when the U.S. government does. Over the past decade, we’ve seen a sharp uptick in attacks made by nation-state actors on United States entities. The most damning of these were the attempts made to affect the results of both the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections, which, successful or otherwise, proved to the world that the U.S. is a clear target for the efforts of bad actors.
Cyber Attacks on the U.S.
The Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS) holds a running list of all significant cyberattacks that occurred from 2006 to the present. Of the ones displayed on the main page of their website, the list only goes back to June of 2020, given the sheer amount of security incidents that happened just over the past year, and out of those shown, a majority include attacks on the United States.
Regardless of whether or not they were successful, these attacks show the dire need for a national increase in awareness and efforts towards preventing cyber attacks. Although the past several presidential administrations have had some kind of cybersecurity director nested into agencies like the NSA, it hasn’t been until the current administration of U.S. President Joe Biden that there has been a dedicated, cabinet-level position for addressing the issue of national cybersecurity at large.
The Executive Order on Cybersecurity – Should You Care?
In addition to bringing on Chris Inglis as Cyber Director, Biden also signed an executive order on May 21, 2021, demanding the United States take drastic action to improve cybersecurity posture, making cybersecurity a top priority of his administration. All of this is fine and good on paper, but what does it actually mean for the state of cybersecurity moving forward?
Gina Rosenthal, founder of Digital Sunshine Solutions, writer at 24×7 IT Connection, and perennial Field Day delegate, breaks down her takeaways from the executive order and how it affects the IT industry as a whole in a recent post. Here’s her thesis on the executive order (EO):
Why should IT professionals care about this document? For one thing, the initiatives outlined in this EO will have impacts to the way federal agencies use IT to accomplish their missions. Inevitably, these new guidelines will become the new standard for all IT organizations.
To read all of her thoughts on the matter, including her 7 key takeaways, you can read the rest of The Executive Order on Cybersecurity – Should You Care? at 24x7itconnection.com.
