A senior US cybersecurity official issued a dire warning to members of Congress on Wednesday, saying that the “American way of life” faces serious risks amid ongoing ransomware attacks and physical threats to the critical infrastructure of the US. country.
Jen Easterly, director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, known as CISA, told the House of Representatives Homeland Security Committee on Wednesday that “ransomware has become a scourge in almost every facet of our lives, and it is an excellent example of the vulnerabilities that are emerging as our digital technology and our physical infrastructure increasingly converge. “
His appearance, along with Chris Inglis, National Cyber Director, occurs when the private sector and governments have faced widespread cyberattacks over the past 12 months. Some attacks, including the May one on Colonial Pipeline Co., have caused gas shortages, disrupted supply chains and exposed federal systems to significant compromise.
Easterly’s testimony came after CISA issued a binding operational directive that would create a catalog of known exploited cybersecurity vulnerabilities and require federal agencies to correct these flaws within specified time frames. It would apply to all software and hardware in federal information systems, including those run by agencies or hosted by third parties.
While the directive would only apply to federal agencies, Easterly said in a statement that he wants all organizations to adopt the directive “and prioritize mitigating the vulnerabilities listed in the CISA public catalog.”
Inglis said that privately owned critical infrastructure, which accounts for 85% of the total, is “increasingly central to the government’s imperative to protect and ensure national security.”
“Shared defense is not an option, but an imperative,” Inglis said.
Inglis said he is working with the White House on an upcoming executive order that would provide additional clarity on the roles and responsibilities for his newly created position, which would be ready within the next few weeks or months. The office of the national cyber director was created by Congress earlier this year, and the position was appointed as the top official overseeing cyber strategy and budgets within the Government.
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