The new directive, according to which US intelligence will share data on China and Russia with the private sector and international partners, is part of a memorandum to strengthen the security of US critical infrastructure, UNN reports , citing The Hill and Reuters.
Details
U.S. President Joe Biden has instructed U.S. intelligence agencies to share intelligence more actively with private companies that serve critical U.S. infrastructure to protect against risks from foreign adversaries such as China and Russia, or criminal groups and hackers.
The new directive is part of a national security memorandum on critical infrastructure security and resilience that Biden released on Tuesday, April 30.
For reference
A new national security memorandum aimed at improving the resilience of critical infrastructure in the United States has replaced a decade-old policy, Reuters reports.
The White House said it was launching "a comprehensive effort to protect U.S. infrastructure from all threats and hazards, present and future.
The directive authorizes the Department of Homeland Security to lead the nationwide effort to protect U.S. critical infrastructure and to regularly submit National Risk Management Plans summarizing the U.S. government's efforts.
We are talking about critical infrastructure facilities in the United States: utilities, power plants, aviation, railways, public transportation, automotive, maritime, pipeline, water and sewage organizations.
This policy is especially relevant today, given the ongoing devastating ransomware attacks and cyberattacks on U.S. water systems by our adversaries
The Biden administration, building on the lessons of its warning about Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, said it is tasking intelligence agencies with declassifying information to share with the private sector or sharing information with private companies with appropriate security clearances to better protect themselves from security threats.
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The memorandum also gives the Department of Homeland Security overall responsibility for coordination among various federal agencies; it includes codifying security and resilience requirements for critical infrastructure that were previously only voluntary, The Hill notes.
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