How Biden’s Administration is Revamping US Cybersecurity

It was just a few days back, President Joe Biden had signed a sweeping $1.9 trillion Covid-19 relief bill. Out of the amount signed, $1 billion has been set aside for the Technology Modernization Fund (TMF) and a good chunk for cybersecurity as well. With SolarWinds and Hafniun attacks that shook the nation badly, the need to need to adopt new technology turns out to be the need of the hour.

The Biden administration has been formulating plans to rebuild the area of cybersecurity. One of the key steps taken by Biden is giving the top cybersecurity veterans the authority to lead administration positions. The funding is yet another step towards modernization and advanced security. Biden entrusted the job of coming up with new strategies on the cybersecurity experts. Though a lot is been left for the experts to decide, this is not going to be the only solution to rely on. A lot needs to be done.

There was a time when even the most significant cyber threats weren't considered to be a wake-up call. Agencies, one after the other got hit drastically but the right step never made its way. All of this threw light on how much could have been done to prevent the attacks that we get to witness today.

The pandemic came as a shock for everyone. The change in how things have transformed – be it working from home on relying on online platforms for even the minutest need, leaves everyone with no option but to accept the reality. The pandemic served to be a platform for more risks and cyberattacks. Just like financial markets have regulatory bodies, it is now time to bring in bodies that'd cater to the same in the case of cybersecurity. The SolarWinds attack is no less than a realization as to what could be the extent of cybercriminals. Also, the SolarWinds attack and the Hafnium attack talk volumes about why cloud adoption should accompany Zero Trust. The cybercriminals are proficient in targeting even the most basic vulnerabilities followed by learning to infiltrate them in more sophisticated ways. The funding that the current administration is planning in this area can pave the way for reviewing technology in place by the federal agencies. Better decisions can now be taken – is it necessary to revamp the infrastructure entirely? What technology should be deployed and so on?

What could be the possible steps that the federal agencies can take?

• A Zero Trust mindset could yield the necessary results. Following this, the NSA released guidelines that'd help agencies embrace a Zero Trust mindset.
• Deploy simple but impactful solutions such as multi-factor authentication and patching. With this, it is very much possible to protect the most basic vulnerabilities.
• Certain attacks could be prevented by using cloud systems. With cloud systems in place, the users stand the ability to update the security measures and also automatically patch vulnerabilities across a vast network of servers.

The Biden administration insists on how the people should unite and leverage the best technology and innovations to tackle problems that threaten us all. With securing the IT infrastructure being a priority, it is now time to provide the agencies with the right resources.