Faced with Chinese cyber threats, Biden replaces Obama’s infrastructure policies | Wilnesh News

President Joe Biden on Tuesday updated a policy that has protected the U.S. for more than a decade. critical infrastructure Industries such as energy and financial services are shielded from foreign attacks as government officials continue to sound the alarm about cyber threats from China.

Biden’s new policy largely rewrites the Obama administration’s rules for protecting U.S. critical infrastructure, known as “Presidential Policy Directives,” or PPD-21published in 2013.

The effort to redraft Obama-era infrastructure policy began more than a year ago, in part to modernize it and keep pace with hackers who have benefited from more than a decade of technological advances.

“The threat environment has changed significantly since the release of PPD-21 in 2013, moving away from counterterrorism and toward strategic competition, technological advances such as artificial intelligence, and the malicious intent of nation-state actors,” a senior administration official said on a conference call with reporters on Monday. Network activities.

At the heart of Biden’s updated policy is the question of which federal agencies have what responsibilities within the complex web of government agencies charged with protecting America’s infrastructure.

“This policy is especially important today given the continued destructive ransomware attacks and cyberattacks on America’s water systems by our adversaries,” a senior administration official said.

FBI Director Christopher Wray has repeatedly warned members of Congress and the public that Chinese hackers pose an imminent threat to the U.S. power grid, water plants, transportation systems and more. In January, Wray announced that the FBI had eliminated a Chinese hacking group called “Volt Typhoon” that had targeted hundreds of routers in homes and offices.

Despite Biden’s attempts to ease U.S.-China relations, tensions between the two superpowers remain volatile, especially given the ongoing geopolitical chaos.

The Biden administration has warned China not to help Russia invade Ukraine or the United States will be prepared to impose sanctions. The United States continues to provide military aid to Taiwan as China frequently signals its intention to reclaim the self-ruled island.

As Sino-U.S. relations undergo repeated changes, security officials remain highly alert to China’s cyber attacks.

“We now recognize that China poses a serious threat to our critical infrastructure, particularly if it is pre-positioned to damage or destroy critical infrastructure in the event of a major crisis,” a senior administration official said.

The memorandum signed by Biden on Tuesday directs the Department of Homeland Security to lead a government-wide effort to mitigate such security risks in conjunction with the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). The secretary of Homeland Security will be responsible for writing a two-year report for the president on efforts to address these risks.

The new policy also directs U.S. intelligence agencies to decrypt information for vulnerable private sector owners and operators in infrastructure industries such as transportation, water and energy.

It also aims to codify CISA’s role in the government’s security network since its creation in 2018, five years after PPD-21 was released.

“The presidential policy directive that was created in 2013 did not mention CISA’s role because we were not established at the time,” said a senior administration official. “So, in a sense, it does strengthen our statutory role, but Crucially, it sets out our specific role in presidential policy.”