White House Releases New Cybersecurity Strategy

The US plans to expand cybersecurity requirements for critical sectors and to be faster and more aggressive in preventing cyberattacks using the military, law enforcement and diplomatic tools, a White House document released showed, Eric Tucker reported for the Associated Press (AP).

Photo Insert: Under the strategy, ransomware attacks — in which hackers lock up a victim’s data and demand large fees to return it — are being classified as a threat to national security rather than a criminal challenge.

The Democratic administration also intends to work with Congress on legislation that would impose legal liability on software makers whose products fail to meet basic cybersecurity safeguards, officials said.

The strategy largely codifies work that has already been underway during the last two years over a spate of high-profile ransomware attacks on critical infrastructure.

An attack on a major fuel pipeline that caused panic at the pump and resulted in an East Coast fuel shortage as well as other attacks focused fresh attention on cybersecurity. But officials hope the new strategy lays the groundwork for countering an increasingly challenging cyber environment.

“This strategy will position the United States and its allies and partners to build that digital ecosystem together, making it more easily and inherently defensible, resilient, and aligned with our values,” the document states.

Under the strategy, ransomware attacks — in which hackers lock up a victim’s data and demand large fees to return it — are being classified as a threat to national security rather than a criminal challenge, meaning that the government will continue using tools beyond arrests and indictments to combat the problem.

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