Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has issued a statement indicating the agency’s renewed focus on U.S. cybersecurity and revealing a number of actions to address existing cybersecurity issues, The Hill reports.
This includes an increase in cybersecurity spending through Federal Emergency Management Agency grant awards and a review by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency into possible resources that may be tapped to strengthen the defenses of the country’s critical infrastructure against digital threats.
The Secret Service will be tasked to use its Cyber Fraud Task Forces to apprehend ransomware attack actors that have targeted schools, hospitals and other critical organizations in the past year. Mayorkas also plans to promote CISA’s new ransomware awareness campaign and participate in several events over the next few weeks to discuss cybersecurity and will also reach out to international partners for talks on cyber defense.
“Cybersecurity is more important than ever, and we will build on the Department’s excellent work as we transform our whole-of-government approach to tackle the challenge we face as a nation,” Mayorkas said.
Jill Aitoro leads editorial for SC Media, and content strategy for parent company CyberRisk Alliance. She 20 years of experience editing and reporting on technology, business and policy.
Boeing has confirmed being the unnamed multinational aeronautical and defense corporation demanded by the LockBit ransomware operation to pay a $200 million ransom as mentioned in an unsealed indictment against LockBit administrator Dmitry Yuryevich Khoroshev, also known as LockBitSupp, according to CyberScoop.
Mounting cyberattacks against U.S. critical infrastructure has prompted new Vermont Chief Information Security Officer John Toney to focus on proactive cybersecurity measures, including the use of the Shodan tool to determine vulnerabilities impacting the state's water systems, according to StateScoop.
Operational measures were noted by Deputy National Security Advisor for Cyber and Emerging Technologies Anne Neuberger to be a crucial factor in addressing cybersecurity risks, according to The Record, a news site by cybersecurity firm Recorded Future.
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