In a Monday evening video message, Donald Trump discussed how he intends to address trade, energy, regulation, national security, immigration and ethics-related issues during the first 100 days of his presidency—and he also addressed cybersecurity, very briefly.
Characterizing his agenda as "putting America first," the president-elect said that cyber-attacks from foreign governments and non-state terrorist actors is "one of our most critical national security concerns.”
Details were few, but the Republican pledged to create a Cyber Review Team to provide safeguarding recommendations and establish protocols and awareness training for government employees. He also said that he would direct the Department of Defense and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to develop a comprehensive plan to protect the United States' infrastructure from cyber-attacks, as well as all other forms of attacks, during his first 100 days in office.
Rick Hanson, the executive vice president at Skyport Systems, said via email that “It’s not enough for a president to ask the DoD and JCS to develop a comprehensive cyber-plan, that has nothing new. We as a country need a clear focus from the top of the food chain down. A cabinet position that focuses on cyber as well as a strong focus and knowledge of the implications by the president himself. We can no longer rely on other agencies to build a plan."
Lastly Hanson added, "A plan must be built and executed by those who have an intimate knowledge of cyber-infrastructure and the threat landscape that not only exists but is possible. The sooner we secure our infrastructure from the core, the more efficient we will be in maintaining the security of our cyber-infrastructure. Regulations and guidelines must exist that define what our core infrastructure looks like from the bare metal. Security at the hardware level is essential for a truly secure infrastructure."
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