At a glance.
- President Biden signs cybersecurity-focused executive order.
- Clop ransomware gang claims to have hacked 59 victims via Cleo vulnerability.
- US government investigates China-founded telecoms hardware firm.
President Biden signs cybersecurity-focused executive order.
President Biden this morning signed an executive order aimed at improving Federal cybersecurity defenses, the Washington Post reports. Anne Neuberger, deputy national security adviser for cyber and emerging threats at the White House, said in a press briefing that this is the Biden Administration's "capstone" cyber order, which is “designed to put the country on a path to defensible networks across the government and private sector."
The 53-page EO includes measures for "[i]mproving accountability for software and cloud service providers, strengthening the security of Federal communications and identity management systems, and promoting innovative developments and the use of emerging technologies for cybersecurity across executive departments and agencies (agencies) and with the private sector." The EO calls out China specifically, stating that "the People’s Republic of China [presents] the most active and persistent cyber threat to United States Government, private sector, and critical infrastructure networks." The order also gives the government greater authority to use sanctions against ransomware actors.
While the Trump administration could decide to reverse the EO, Neuberger said she believes the incoming administration will keep many of the order's objectives in place. Neuberger stated, "Our feeling is that securing the nation in cyberspace and making it harder for ransomware hackers are pretty nonpartisan goals. We wanted to put the incoming administration on the best foot forward as they did for us."