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26 Cyberspace Solarium Commission recommendations likely to become law…

Once passed, the National Defense Authorization Act will create a White House cybersecurity director role, expand CISA’s capabilities, and create a K-12 security education assistance program.

This year’s National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), the annual “must-pass” spending bill that ensures the continued funding of the nation’s military, has a wealth of information security recommendations that come from the bi-partisan, bi-cameral, public-private initiative known as the Cyberspace Solarium Commission (CSC). The CSC was itself established in 2019’s NDAA bill and was asked to come up with a new strategic approach to cybersecurity.

Last spring, the CSC issued a report that offered 82 policy and legislative recommendations to improve cybersecurity. Of those, 26 will likely become law given that both the House and Senate last week passed the bill by overwhelming margins. The veto-proof vote count is needed given that President Donald Trump has repeatedly vowed to veto this year’s NDAA unless it also contains provisions that strip internet companies of legal liability protections granted them in Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996. Over the weekend, Trump reiterated via Tweet his intention to veto the NDAA.

Solarium co-chairs Senator Angus King (I-ME) and Representative Mike Gallagher (R-WI) expressed their delight in turning substantive cybersecurity recommendations into legislative provisions. “From the first day we embarked on crafting America’s cyberdoctrine, we were determined to create a plan of action, not a report collecting dust on a shelf. It is only because of the hard work and commitment of our commissioners and tireless staff that we were able to create such a robust report earlier this year. It is due to them that we were able to inform national policy on such a remarkable level,” the pair said in a statement.

The Commission’s top accomplishment in the bill is the reestablishment of cybersecurity leadership in the White House by creating a national cyber director position. Senator Mike Rounds (R-SD) garners much of the credit for this achievement. “The creation of a national cyber director position in this year’s NDAA was the result of years of hard work,” Rounds said in a statement.

This article appeared in CSO Online. To read the rest of the article please visit here.

Photo by Louis Velazquez on Unsplash

 

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Many Cyberspace Solarium Commission recommendations expected to become federal…

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Dozens of cybersecurity measures designed to protect US businesses and infrastructure are part of the National Defense Authorization Act. Budget, political concerns might eliminate some.
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Several cybersecurity proposals are advancing in both the US House and Senate that flow from the prolific work of the public-private brainstorming initiative called the Cyberspace Solarium Commission. The Commission was formed in 2019 to break through the seemingly intractable barriers blocking the path to devising and implementing practical solutions to the most challenging cybersecurity problems.

The vehicle through which the commission hopes to enact several dozen of its legislative recommendations (out of 75 recommendations included in its inaugural report this past spring) is the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), an annual “must-pass” federal law that sets the budget and expenditures for the US military. The commission’s executive director Mark Montgomery estimated earlier this month that each chamber’s bills would feature eight to 20 of the commission’s recommendations.

This article appeared in CSO Online. To read the rest of the article please visit here.

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Bipartisan bill could bring back the White House national…

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Cyberspace Solarium Commission leaders introduce the National Cyber Director Act to reintroduce cybersecurity expertise into the White House.
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Last week a bipartisan group of US House of Representatives legislators introduced the National Cyber Director Act to create the position of a national cyber director within the White House. The creation of this role is one of the chief recommendations of an increasingly influential intergovernmental group known as the Cyberspace Solarium Commission.

The commission issued its report — the product of months-long deliberations by four members from congress, four senior executive agency leaders and six experts from outside of government – just as the coronavirus pandemic quarantine kicked in during March. Nevertheless, the commission’s 80 recommendations, such as creating a national cyber director, are quickly being translated into actionable legislation on Capitol Hill.

Two of the commission’s leaders, Cyberspace Solarium Chair Congressman Jim Langevin (D-RI) and Solarium Co-Chair Congressman Mike Gallagher (R-WI), introduced the bill. Other legislators backing the bill include House Oversight and Reform Committee Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), Ranking Member of the Committee on Homeland Security’s Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Infrastructure and Innovation John Katko (R-NY), former Ranking Member of the House Intelligence Committee C. A. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-MD), and Ranking Member of the House Intelligence Committee’s Subcommittee on Intelligence Modernization and Readiness Will Hurd (R-TX).

This article appeared in CSO Online. To read the rest of the article please visit here.

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New cybersecurity recommendations for US government target IoT, social…

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The COVID-19 pandemic spurs the Cyberspace Solarium Commission policy initiative to issue a set of four security recommendations for the federal government in the wake of the crisis.
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The Cyberspace Solarium Commission is a unique policy initiative created in 2019 to cut through the complexity of the vast and dense cybersecurity challenges facing the country. It is composed of lawmakers and government officials from across several agencies who, working with outside experts, are devising “a strategic approach to defending the United States in cyberspace against cyberattacks of significant consequences.” The high-profile focal point group came out this spring with an ambitious report that offered 75 recommendations to keep the country safe from digital threats.

Last week, the commission took its prerogative one step further. It came out with its first white paper, Lessons from the Pandemic, a timely document articulating the changes the COVID-19 crisis creates for cybersecurity. The pandemic “illustrates the challenges of ensuring resilience and continuity in a connected world,” co-chairs Senator Angus King (I-ME) and Representative Mike Gallagher (R-WI), wrote in their executive summary of the white paper.

The white paper contains observations about the parallel connections between cybersecurity and the pandemic. It stresses 32 of the commission’s original recommendations, which King and Gallagher said have attained “renewed importance” in light of the coronavirus crisis.

This article appeared in CSO Online. To read the rest of the article please visit here.

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Cyberspace Solarium report calls for layered cyber deterrence, defend…

lead centered=”no”The intergovernmental commission outlines the steps needed to defend the United States from modern cybersecurity threats./lead

Last week, the US Cyberspace Solarium Commission, a bicameral, bipartisan intergovernmental body created by the 2019 Defense Authorization Act, launched its official report on the organization, policy and technical issues surrounding how to best defend the country against digital security threats. Inspired by a commission established in the Eisenhower Administration to tackle Cold War era problems, the Cyberspace Solarium Commission is co-chaired by Senator Angus King (I-ME) and Representative Mike Gallagher (R-WI). It counts among its 14 commissioners four members from Congress, four senior executive agency leaders and six experts from outside of government.

The objective of the commission is to cut through the thicket of government bureaucracy and terminology and archaic structures surrounding cybersecurity to come up with implementable action plans that address the issues uncovered by the commission’s investigation. The report spells out 75 recommendations for action across the public and private sectors.

This article appeared in CSO Online. To read the rest of the article please visit here.