The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) on Thursday released its first strategy for how it will work with the nation’s international partners to improve cyber security of critical infrastructure.
“There are no borders to the cyber risks we face, and now, more than ever, we must work together,” Brandon Wales, acting director of CISA, said in a statement. “CISA Global describes how we will engage with international partners to build CISA’s capacity and strengthen our ability to defend against cyber incidents, enhance the security and resilience of critical infrastructure, identify and address the most significant risks to critical functions, and provide seamless and secure emergency communications.”
The strategy has four goals, each of which includes objectives and outcomes. The goals are improving operational cooperation, building partner capacity, strengthening collaboration, and shaping the policy ecosystem.
CISA intends to build operational cooperation through information sharing to enhance “collective situational awareness,” improve responses to and mitigation of threats, and enable joint operations. CISA eventually wants to create an attaché program to better execute the agency’s mission.
“Ultimately, CISA seeks to mature our partnerships to establish an attaché program and to deploy personnel overseas to effectively execute CISA’s mission,” the 20-page CISA Global says.
Ultimately, CISA seeks to mature our partnerships to establish an attaché program and to deploy personnel overseas to effectively execute CISA’s mission.
Building international capacity through the sharing of best practices, information and lessons learned will strengthen the cyber security posture of the U.S. and its partners, the strategy says.
CISA wants to improve collaboration with its international partners through “a vast, diverse, and robust network of public and private stakeholders and experts in order to promote a collective effort towards protecting critical infrastructure and strengthening global cyber posture,” CISA Global says.
In the area of wider international cyber policy, CISA hope its work with foreign partners results in “the adoption of standards, regulations and policies that support a homeland and global community that is safe, secure and resilient to threats and hazards,” the strategy says.
The strategy also includes five operational priorities of CISA’s that span across the various goals and objectives. These priorities include China, the supply chain, and 5G, election security, soft target security, federal cyber security, and industrial control systems.