Security News > 2021 > July > New US security memorandum bolsters critical infrastructure cybersecurity

US President Joe Biden today issued a national security memorandum designed to help strengthen the security of critical infrastructure by setting baseline performance goals for critical infrastructure owners and operators.

It directs the Department of Homeland Security's CISA and the Department of Commerce's NIST, in collaboration with other federal agencies, to develop cybersecurity performance goals and guidance for critical infrastructure orgs.

"Responsible critical infrastructure owners and operators should be following voluntary guidance as well as mandatory requirements in order to ensure that the critical services the American people rely on are protected from cyber threats," a senior administration official added.

Today's NSM also establishes the President's Industrial Control System Cybersecurity Initiative, a voluntary, collaborative effort between the critical infrastructure community and the federal government launched in mid-April to facilitate the deployment of technology providing threat visibility, indicators, detections, and warnings.

The private sector is urged to adopt the new goals and guidance CISA and NIST will outline as part of a shared effort to secure the USA's critical infrastructure.

This National Security Memorandum, the ICS Cybersecurity Initiative, TSA's Security Directives, and foundationally, the President's Executive Order on Improving the Nation's Cybersecurity that he signed back in May all are parts of our focused and aggressive continuing effort to address these significant threats to our nation within that first line of modernizing defense of our cybersecurity - of the administration's cybersecurity strategy.

News URL

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/new-us-security-memorandum-bolsters-critical-infrastructure-cybersecurity/