Yesterday, President Biden released a second statement on the cybersecurity of the United States, one that we believe should trigger a shift in how the world views IT and security.
Biden stated that now is a “critical moment to accelerate our work to improve domestic cybersecurity.” His statement largely reiterates the previous call to action we covered just a few weeks ago.
Biden cites “evolving intelligence that the Russian government is exploring options for potential cyberattacks” as the reason for the second statement. This likely doesn’t come as a surprise to those working in cybersecurity. Over the past several years, “cyberspace” has become a commonly agreed-upon fifth domain of warfare, and yesterday’s statement appears to back that up. If we are to heed the president’s warning, the way we approach IT and security must fundamentally shift to properly protect critical infrastructure.
How should IT organizations respond?
In reality, most of the president’s statement is a reiteration of what was released in February. As Biden states, this is due to evolving intelligence, meaning that the U.S. government believes attempted cyber attacks on the US are still as likely (if not more so) as they were a few weeks ago.
In the latest release, Biden again calls on the private sector to immediately harden their environments. If you haven’t yet addressed the prescribed steps, work with your leadership to prioritize them – this will protect you both now and pay dividends towards reducing your cyber risk moving forward.
Leaders: A call for change
At Automox, we believe President Biden’s statement isn’t just geared towards IT and security leaders and administrators. It’s a call to action for executives and non-technical leaders to prioritize IT and security as a shared responsibility.
In reality it’s always been the case, but in the days of hybrid and remote work, security truly is everyone’s responsibility. You’ll have difficulty protecting your organization unless every team member understands this principle.
IT and security shoulder the immense task of educating employees, protecting personal and corporate data, boosting employee productivity, safeguarding the company’s reputation, and much more. The perspective on IT and security must shift from viewing it as a cost center to viewing it as a valuable investment.
We must enable and invest in our IT and security teams by empowering them to act, both in the tools they use and in their agency within an organization. IT and security teams that are empowered to act – urgently – are a valuable asset to any company in any industry, now more so than ever.
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