President Joe Biden’s approach to cybersecurity looks like it may be significantly different compared to the previous presidential approach. Now that President Biden has been sworn into office, his administration has a lot on their to do list. In addition to typical executive issues, handling looming cybersecurity challenges and managing aggressive adversaries are at the top of the list. While the President has not announced any definite plans, here’s how cybersecurity could change under his administration.
Beefing Up Cybersecurity and Data Protection
The Democratic party is pushing for the addition of national standards for data protection to the Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights put in place by the Obama administration. Data privacy laws are currently handled at the state level across the U.S. Under President Biden, data privacy leaders can expect a more standardized system.
Focusing on Election Security
With President Biden in office, efforts look like they will be ramped up to make elections more secure against hacking. A push for more funding would allow for a shift to paper ballots in states and counties that still lack them, increased mail voting, and more post-election audits to ensure votes are counted accurately Cybersecurity standards for all manner of election equipment will need to be improved as well.
Pressure on Russia
Experts expect to see an increase in public warnings from the White House that Russia needs to steer clear of hacking a whole range of critical U.S. sectors, including elections, financial services, and energy companies. President Biden said that, if elected, he would “make full use of my executive authority to impose substantial and lasting costs on state perpetrators.”1 President Biden has prior experience with confronting Russia diplomatically over its online attack activity, so it is possible that President Biden will impose additional consequences if Russia does attack those sectors.
Crack Down on China
Expect to see a continuation of President Trump’s policies on China:
- Ban on Chinese telecom Huawei from building U.S. 5G networks
- Barring other Chinese companies from industry sectors where they might be able to steal critical data or damage U.S. national security
Social Media and Section 230
Recent events have led to the unprecedented suspension of President Trump from large social media platforms. Both Google and Apple removed Parler from their app stores as well. Both parties are calling for changes to Section 230. Section 230 is a 25-year-old provision of the Communications Decency Act. It protects internet companies from being held liable for what their users say online. Repealing the law would likely have a broad effect on social media.
Keep What Works
During President Trump’s administration, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) was created and put into action. CISA is “tasked with securing government computer networks and critical infrastructure and serving as an early warning system for the private sector over emerging threats such as ransomware and nation-state attacks.”1 President Trump also signed an executive order giving the U.S. Cyber Command the ability to conduct digital strikes without the president’s direct approval.
Whichever way President Biden’s administration decides to steer their actions on cybersecurity, it is clear that attention from the President is a key component to national security and successful data protection.
Sources:
- https://www.bankinfosecurity.com/what-joe-biden-presidency-means-for-cybersecurity-a-15328
- https://www.cybersecuritydive.com/news/biden-presidency-tech-cyber-policy/588546/
- https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/11/09/cybersecurity-202-biden-will-get-tougher-russia-boost-election-security-here-what-expect/