Joe Biden signs cybersecurity executive order to 'protect federal government networks'

US President Joe Biden on May 12 signed an executive order aimed at strengthening cybersecurity defences, a move that came after the Colonial Pipeline hack. According to a press release, the latest executive order establishes a series of initiatives designed to better equip federal agencies with cybersecurity tools. The order advances cybersecurity capabilities and encourages improvements in digital security standards across the private sector which has been hit by a series of high-profile cyber attacks. 

“This Executive Order makes a significant contribution toward modernizing cybersecurity defenses by protecting federal networks, improving information-sharing between the U.S. government and the private sector on cyber issues, and strengthening the United States’ ability to respond to incidents when they occur. It is the first of many ambitious steps the Administration is taking to modernize national cyber defenses,” the press note read. 

The president’s executive order calls for the federal government and private sector to partner to confront “persistent and increasingly sophisticated malicious cyber campaigns” that threaten US security. The order takes a number of steps aimed at modernizing the nation’s cybersecurity. It requires software companies selling to the government to maintain certain cybersecurity standards in their products and report whether they themselves have been compromised by hackers. 

It creates a standardized playbook and set of definitions for federal responses to cyber incidents. It even pushes the federal government toward upgrading to secure cloud services and other cyberinfrastructure and mandates the deployment of multifactor authentication and encryption with a specific time period. Further, it establishes a “Cybersecurity Safety Review Board” comprising public- and private-sector officials, which can convene after cyber attacks to analyze the situation and make recommendations.

Colonial restarts pipeline operations  

Meanwhile, Biden’s action comes after Colonial announced that it had restarted pipeline operations. Biden’s Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm first shared the update in a tweet after a phone call with Colonial CEO Time Felt. In a separate statement, the company also said, “Colonial will move as much gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel as is safely possible and will continue to do so until markets return to normal”. 

It is worth mentioning that the cybercriminal gang that attacked Colonial Pipeline, which delivers roughly 45% of the fuel consumed on the East Coast, acknowledged the ransomware incident in a public statement. DarkSide wrote on its website that “Our goal is to make money and not creating problems for society.” In a statement that the group posted on its website on May 10, it described itself as “apolitical.” It further said, “We do not participate in geopolitics, do not need to tie us with a defined government and look for... our motives". 

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