President Obama formally announced his new cybersecurity initiative during his State of the Union address on Tuesday night. The initiative is defined by an Executive Order that he signed on the same day. “America must face the rapidly growing threat from cyber-attacks,” President Obama said during his speech. He added that the U.S. knows that hackers and foreign governments infiltrate private email and steal corporate secrets.
Getting the new Cybersecurity Framwork in place will take time, though President Obama has suggested a tight schedule in his executive order. The preliminary version of the framework is due inside of the next 240 days. The final version of the framework is supposed to be completed within a year.
Looking beyond the Cybersecurity Framework, President Obama also wants to have a complete understanding of threats to critical infrastructure.
“Within 150 days of the date of this order, the Secretary shall use a risk-based approach to identify critical infrastructure where a cybersecurity incident could reasonably result in catastrophic regional or national effects on public health or safety, economic security, or national security,” the order states.
Read the full story at eSecurity Planet:
Obama Orders National Cybersecurity Framework
Sean Michael Kerner is a senior editor at InternetNews.com, the news service of the IT Business Edge Network, the network for technology professionals Follow him on Twitter @TechJournalist.
