Cyber risks to critical infrastructure pose an “existential threat” to national security and should be met by “urgent and comprehensive action,” the National Infrastructure Advisory Council (NIAC) urged in a memo to President Donald Trump, The Hill reported on Monday.
“Escalating cyber risks to America’s critical infrastructures present an existential threat to continuity of government, economic stability, social order, and national security,” the memo stated. “Bold action is needed to prevent the dire consequences of a catastrophic cyber attack on energy, communication, and financial infrastructures.”
The NIAC, which consists of industry officials and those in government involved in critical infrastructure, also warned that “U.S. companies find themselves on the front lines of a cyber war they are ill-equipped to win against nation-states intent on disrupting or destroying our critical infrastructure.”
The memo outlined nine recommendations to counter the threats, including setting up a Critical Infrastructure Command Center to help share information between government actors and threatened companies, making it a top priority of the intelligence community to spread information on other nations and entities attempting to target critical American infrastructure, and issuing an executive order to establish a Federal Cybersecurity Commission that could mitigate cyber risks to critical infrastructure, according to MeriTalk.
“Incremental steps are no longer sufficient; bold approaches must be taken,” the memo warned, advising the president that “Your leadership is needed to provide companies with the intelligence, resources, and legal protection necessary to win this war and avoid the dire consequences of losing it.”
The memo was put together after the National Security Council asked NIAC in September to find ways that government and private industry can work together to counter cyberthreats, according to The Hill.
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