The National Security Agency (NSA) will now have even more power to protect US government computer networks following a new memo from President Biden.
As The Wall Street Journal reported, the memo states that cybersecurity standards and practices such as two-factor authentication (2FA) and encryption will be required to protect the country's national security systems. That means the Defense Department, intelligence agencies like the FBI, and federal contractors will need to improve their security if they haven't already.
Essentially, President Biden's new memo ensures that national security agencies adhere to the cybersecurity standards set for civilian agencies set forth in an executive order signed last May. These agencies will also need to implement a number of cybersecurity protocols, such as the use of certain cloud-based technologies and software capable of detecting security issues on their networks.
Binding Operating Guidelines
The lengthy memorandum also authorizes the NSA to issue binding operational guidelines that will require agencies and organizations operating the national security system to take additional efforts to protect against known and potential cybersecurity threats.
The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) also has the authority to issue binding operating guidelines that apply to civilian government networks. In fact, in December, he used that power to order agencies to mitigate the Log4Shell vulnerability in Apache's Log4J software.
Binding operational guidelines issued by the NSA could require other government agencies to take action, such as immediately updating their systems, taking them offline, or uninstalling software deemed potentially harmful, and the Trump administration did this with Kaspersky antivirus software in 2017.
At the same time, the memorandum will require US defense and intelligence agencies to further protect the tools they use to share data between classified and unclassified systems.
Hopefully, the NSA's new cybersecurity power will prevent US government agencies from falling victim to more data and security breaches in the future.
We've also highlighted the best firewall and endpoint protection software.
Via The Wall Street Journal