White House Asks CISA, NIST to Set Cybersecurity Performance Goals for Critical Infrastructure Operators
US President Joe Biden addresses the Intelligence Community workforce and its leadership while on a tour at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence in McLean, Virginia, on July 27, 2021. SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images
The White House will issue a national security memo Wednesday instructing the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and the National Institute of Standards and Technology to establish cybersecurity performance goals for private-sector owners and operators of critical infrastructure.
The goal is to set comprehensive expectations for cybersecurity across all sectors of critical infrastructure at a time when private companies might be more inclined to meet them, a senior administration official told reporters Tuesday.
The official said the administration expects the action will make a difference even though it’s not a requirement because of “the fact that it's being announced by the president in the context of the [Transportation Security Administration’s] recent mandate, in the context of us openly saying that we really are committed to addressing the limited and piecemeal regulation, in the context of the current environment where the threat is known and seen by critical infrastructure owners and private sectors.”
