Life On Earth Inc (fka LFER)

[Chris T]

Folks get ready for an interesting ride!!!

Biden signs cybersecurity executive order after Colonial Pipeline attack

U.S. President Joe Biden signed an executive order on Wednesday that advances federal cybersecurity capabilities and encourages improvements in digital security standards across the private sector which has been hit by a spate of cyber attacks.

The executive order establishes a series of initiatives designed to better equip federal agencies with cybersecurity tools.

It follows a cyberattack against the Colonial Pipeline that caused some internal computer systems to be disabled with ransomware. This led Colonial to shut the pipeline, triggering fuel shortages and panic buying in the southeastern United States.

On Wednesday, Atlanta-based Colonial said it "initiated the restart of pipeline operations at 5 p.m. ET."

The order also requires that software companies selling to the government maintain certain cybersecurity standards in their products and report whether they themselves have been compromised by hackers. The requirement was first reported by Reuters in March.

A senior administration official described the executive order as having a "very significant" impact on the government's ability to detect and respond to hacking incidents.

"It reflects a fundamental shift in our mindset from incident response to prevention, from talking about security to doing security, setting aggressive but achievable goals ..." the official said.

The pipeline cyberattack is the latest in a string of cyber incidents against U.S. companies and government agencies over the last six months.



Source: https://www.reuters.com/technology/biden-signs-executive-order-improve-us-cybersecurity-amid-colonial-pipeline-2021-05-12/