The order, which comes just days before President-elect Donald Trump takes office, focuses on myriad measures to better secure federal systems and gives the U.S. more authority to sanction hackers, namely ransomware groups that hold victims’ systems hostage in exchange for ransom payments.
It follows in the footsteps of a cornerstone May 2021 executive order, penned by Biden largely in response to a pair of high-profile cyberattacks on IT and energy systems at the start of the decade.
Recent cybercriminal activity, as well as related nation-state incursions into federal networks and other critical infrastructure, have extensively alarmed national security officials and lawmakers.
One incident in 2023 involved Chinese hackers accessing the email communications of top Commerce and State Department officials, prompting a review from a Department of Homeland Security-backed cybersecurity review board. A year ago, Russian operatives also nabbed communications between Microsoft and federal agencies.
Last February, a major ransomware hack into UnitedHealth’s Change Healthcare unit affected some 100 million Americans. Other healthcare hacking incidents followed suit. More recently, Chinese government-backed hackers have been found intruding into telecommunications systems, and, more broadly, troves of critical infrastructure, including water treatment plants and power grids.
“The goal is to make it costlier and harder for China, Russia, Iran and ransomware criminals to hack, and to also signal that America means business when it comes to protecting our businesses and our citizens,” Anne Neuberger, the outgoing deputy national security advisor for cybersecurity and emerging ..
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