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White House seeks critical cyber assistance for water utilities, healthcare
David Jones / Cybersecurity Dive
May 28, 2024
2 Min Read
National Cyber Director Harry Coker Jr. said the administration is taking new actions to strengthen key critical infrastructure sectors, including healthcare and water utilities, and will pursue additional steps to fight ransomware and boost resilience, in a keynote speech Wednesday at Auburn University’s McCrary Institute in Washington, D.C.
The Department of Health and Human Services will implement its cybersecurity strategy for the healthcare sector, which includes raising baseline standards for hospitals and working with Congress to get additional aid to small, rural and critical care facilities. The agency has been dealing with a series of catastrophic cyberattacks impacting patient care and access to medications.
The Environmental Protection Agency will provide more technical assistance for public water systems and the Department of Agriculture will invest in a circuit rider program to integrate cybersecurity programs for rural water utilities that are considered vulnerable.
Dive Insight:
Coker highlighted ongoing threats to the nation’s critical infrastructure, and said additional work was necessary to boost resilience and strengthen sector management under the second phase of the national cybersecurity strategy implementation plan.
Two weeks ago, the administration previewed its plans to improve the resilience of additional sectors as it unveiled a report on the nation’s cyber readiness.
“However, it’s clear that a reactive posture cannot keep pace with fast evolving cyber threats and a dynamic technology landscape,” Coker said Wednesday. “It’s also clear that just managing the worst effects of cyber incidents is no longer sufficient to ensure our national security, our economic prosperity and our democratic values.”
Plans for the next implementation phase are a positive step, but funding for key sector risk management agencies is “woefully inadequate” said Mark Montgomery, senior director of the Center on Cyber and Technology Innovation at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.
To read the complete article, visit Cybersecurity Dive.
