It’s official that a new National Risk Management Center is said to guard the US energy companies against cyber attacks launched by state-funded actors. This news was shared to the world yesterday at a New York Security conference by Homeland Security Secretary Kirstein Nielson who added in his statement that the top priority of the security center will be to guard the critical infrastructure against other country digital invasions.
Readers of Cybersecurity Insiders have to notify a fact over here that the statement comes just after 5 months when the top 5 pipeline operators in the US said that their 3rd party digital communication systems were shut down by hackers who were planning to shadow certain parts of American with a complete blackout.
According to the sources from Bloomberg, the center’s priority will be to focus on the assets of energy, finance, and telecom sector. And then will try to defend other IT assets of the fed like air transport facilities, water processing plants and such.
Note- In April this year, Cyber Security firm Symantec Corp said that it has tracked at least 140 groups targeting energy companies which is up from just eighty-seven in 2015.
Last week, the US Intelligence director said that hacking groups funded by Russia, China and Iran are trying to compromise dozens of US companies which include those operating in the energy sector. And their objective is simple-to create a political and economic instability.
US new National Risk Management Center is designed to allow the industry and the public sector to better coordinate on mitigating cyber risks and responding to attacks. Here Homeland security is said to play a vital role in doing so as it has positioned itself to take a convening arm role to bring important sectors of America to help organize and harmonize the counter-response.
A major cybersecurity exercise is said to be held by DHS later this year and it will be in lines with Britain’s NCSC.
Note- US President Donald Trump is leaving no stone unturned to make America greatest. As he thinks that cyber attacks on US Companies might hinder the progress, he has given the law enforcement full powers to coordinate and defend the American IT assets from all sorts of foreign invasions- which the former US president Barack Obama said to have ignored during his 8-9 years of tenure.
