White House tells federal agencies to bolster cybersecurity in memo - Fedscoop
2023-08-17 10:10 (EST) - Madison Alder
Federal agencies got a reminder from the White House yesterday of the need to firm up their cybersecurity in compliance with a Biden executive order.
The National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan sent a memo to departments and agencies Wednesday morning “to ensure their cyber infrastructure is compliant with” a May 2021 executive order on improving U.S. cybersecurity, a National Security Council spokesperson said in an emailed statement.
The spokesperson added that the administration has been focused on strengthening cybersecurity in the “nation’s most critical sectors since day one, and will continue to work to secure our cyber defenses.” CNN was the first to report news of the memo.
The executive order outlined specific steps agencies were to take to improve sharing of threat information, modernize cybersecurity, and bolster the security of the software supply chain. It also outlined the establishment of a cyber safety review board and improvements for government responses to cyber vulnerabilities and incidents.
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NSC’s memo instructed agencies to comply adhere with the Biden administration’s May 2021 cybersecurity executive order, which mandated that government departments move to the cloud, adopt zero-trust network architecture and sought to improve software supply-chain security.
