The White House has issued a proclamation from President Biden declaring November as Critical Infrastructure Security and Resilience Month – A month dedicated to raising awareness of the need to improve critical infrastructure and strengthening the resilience of critical infrastructure against physical and cyber threats.
President Biden has recommitted to improving and fortifying critical infrastructure, “by building better roads, bridges, and ports; fortifying our information technology and cybersecurity across sectors, including election systems; safeguarding our food and water sources; moving to clean energy; and strengthening all other critical infrastructure sectors,” and by doing so will lay the foundation for long-term security and prosperity.
One of the main focus areas is improving defenses and shielding critical infrastructure against malicious cyber activity. President Biden has confirmed his administration will be establishing clear international rules of the road as they relate to cyberspace. In the United States, most critical infrastructure is owned and operated by private companies. Federal agencies have been working closely with critical infrastructure owners and operators to improve resilience to cyberattacks.
As part of this effort, CISA has recently published a set of cybersecurity performance goals for critical infrastructure organizations to guide their cybersecurity efforts to help them achieve minimum standards for cybersecurity. President Biden has also “reinvigorated the National Infrastructure Advisory Council to advise on how to reduce physical and cyber risks and improve the security and resilience of our Nation’s critical infrastructure sectors.”
CISA is encouraging all critical infrastructure organizations to take steps to improve resilience to cyber threats this November. CISA urges all organizations to strengthen their security plans by gaining a better understanding of the unique risks to their organization and systems, conducting exercises of preparedness plans and updating them with the latest techniques and tactics, focusing on ways risk can be reduced and resilience built on physical and cyber fronts, and considering ways to embed resilience as a foundational design feature when upgrading or building new critical infrastructure.
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