Cybersecurity

In order to meet the cybersecurity needs of today’s increasingly interconnected digital world, policymakers and industry leaders must focus efforts on educating and training a highly-skilled workforce, modernizing government Information Technology (IT), and building long-lasting public/private partnerships.  TechNet will promote the adoption and use of voluntary, adaptable, risk management-based approaches to meet this changing environment and effectively manage cybersecurity risk.

TechNet supports the following principles and objectives:

• Alignment of policies, legislation, regulations, and guidance with flexible, stakeholder-driven, risk management-based approaches to cybersecurity, including:
  • Promotion of voluntary private sector adoption of the Framework for Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity (Framework), including any updates to the Framework;
  • Further guidance on the implementation of President Biden’s Executive Order on Improving the Nation’s Cybersecurity;
  • Further guidance for and oversight of Framework adoption by federal agencies, per Executive Order 13800; and promotion of Framework-like approaches (adaptable, stakeholder-driven, risk management-based) with international partners;
  • Appropriate implementation of the Cyber Incident Reporting for Critical Infrastructure Act of 2022;
  • A comprehensive risk-based cybersecurity strategy that increases the security and resilience of all networks, and prepares for and mitigates cyberattacks through the voluntary coordination of industry and government;
  • Market-based incentives to encourage companies to actively manage risks in accordance with industry standards and best practices;
  • Improved accountability, reporting requirements, and uniform standards for federal agencies as they comply with cybersecurity laws, regulations, and executive actions;
  • Federal agencies and vendors should have a vulnerability disclosure policy, which contribute to data protection, cybersecurity, and mitigation of risk across complex assets;
  • Public/private initiatives that support improving the cyber defense capabilities of small businesses;
  • Harmonization of conflicting requirements in the private sector with attention paid to reducing duplicative and conflicting reporting requirements to minimize time, expense, and complexity of compliance;
  • To promote the public/private sharing of accurate and helpful information, federal use restriction/liability protections should be clear to incentivize sharing and the private sector should be allowed sufficient time to report confirmed intrusions; and
  • Addressing cyber threats to the supply chain of the National Industrial Base.
• Government participation, working through the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the recently-established Office of the National Cyber Director within the White House, in the continued development of an international, consensus-driven Internet of Things (IoT) security guidance for consumer, industrial, and critical infrastructure. This may involve the development of a risk management approach similar to the NIST framework that focuses on IoT security and incorporates security into initial designs that can be built upon, depending on the functionality and risk associated with the device.
• Funding and implementation of the Modernizing Government Technology Act that focuses on driving down cybersecurity risk. Agencies must report on existing networks that cannot be fixed and must be replaced.
• Continued adherence to the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act of 2015, which facilitates a risk-based strategy by promoting the sharing of actionable cyberthreat information from government to industry, from industry to government, and among private companies.
• The U.S. government should promote greater sharing of cyberthreat information with the private sector in a timely, straightforward, and actionable manner, and ensure government agencies are funded and staffed with the necessary resources to achieve this goal of efficiently managing the collection of data. The current process does not provide companies with actionable, accurate, and timely information.  Specifically, the federal government should work to minimize the average amount of time that a threat actor remains undetected once they have gained their initial exploit or foothold.  To this end, the federal government should track and publish its own performance metrics, including the amount of time that occurs from (1) breach-to-detection, (2) detection-to-response, and (3) detection-to-sharing of the cyberthreat indicators.
• Appropriate liability protections when participating in government cybersecurity sharing programs.
• Regulators should be cognizant of sector-specific risks and build off of existing successful sector-specific regulations.
• Government efforts to develop norms that support an open, secure, stable, accessible, and peaceful cyberspace. Cyberattacks by state and non-state actors threaten international and national security, democratic processes, the global economy, the free flow of ideas and information, and the safety, security, and privacy of individuals.
• An increase in attention for cybersecurity in international forums, including the G20 and increased U.S. Government engagement in international bodies, such as the UNECE World Forum for the Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations (WP.29).
• No federal government mandates on the design of products and services. The federal government should be particularly careful to avoid requirements that could weaken the security of technology used to protect sensitive personal information and critical systems.
• Cybersecurity efforts at the federal and state levels to protect the integrity of election systems and related information technology infrastructure.
• A renewed focus on enhancing attribution and bringing cyber criminals to justice.
• Education, workforce, and immigration policies and initiatives that help the U.S. develop and retain the world’s best cyber workforce.
• Additional funding for states to procure consolidated cybersecurity services on behalf of local entities to thwart the increasing ransomware attacks against our local government systems and school districts — because efforts by the district and county level will never scale to enable a reasonable defense in this threat environment.
• The continuation and further development of Information Sharing and Analysis Centers (ISACs) that provide critical infrastructure owners and operators a forum to detect, share, and analyze cyber threat information
• Congress should act:
  • Federal legislation is needed to provide harmonized and consistent standards throughout the U.S. to set cybersecurity guidelines and security expectations.  Federal legislation should be tech- and sector-neutral and apply to online and offline entities alike that collect and process personal information.
  • Congress and other federal and state government entities must be collaborative partners in advancing the protection of consumers and the furtherance of innovation in the 21st-century data-driven economy.
  • Congress and the Biden administration should consider and incorporate certain national and international frameworks, with a particular focus on interoperability and secure data flows, as they develop a framework for baseline legislation.