Adrian Johnson
TLDR:
- Biden administration urges federal agencies to increase cybersecurity funding requests.
- Memorandum recommends prioritizing investments in department-wide solutions and addressing cyber workforce issues.
Increased Cyber Spending Urged by White House
The Biden administration has called upon federal agencies to boost their cybersecurity funding requests in order to align with the national cyber strategy and implementation plan. The memo issued by Office of Management and Budget Director Shalanda Young and National Cyber Director Harry Coker Jr stresses the importance of considering the critical infrastructure national security memorandum and minimum cybersecurity requirements for industries and open-source software security.
The memo also emphasizes the need for agencies with federated networks to prioritize investments in department-wide, enterprise solutions to enhance cybersecurity efforts, ensure consistency across mission areas, and enable information sharing. Along with this, consideration of ongoing cyber workforce issues, such as adopting skills-based best practices and removing 4-year college degrees as minimum requirements, is recommended in funding requests.
This call for increased cyber spending comes in light of recent ransomware attacks impacting various counties like Clay County in Indiana. The need for agencies to address vulnerabilities and adopt robust security measures is more critical than ever in the current cyber threat landscape.
