President Biden is expected to sign an executive order on Wednesday that will strengthen the government’s ability to respond to maritime cybersecurity threats amid growing concerns that China may seek to hamper key infrastructure systems in the United States.
Anne Neuberger, the deputy national security adviser for cyber and emerging technologies, gave reporters a preview of the executive order on Tuesday evening, saying it would expand the powers of the Department of Homeland Security.
She said the order would also allow the U.S. Coast Guard to set rules for setting minimum cybersecurity requirements at ports across the United States and that the administration would invest $20 billion in. as part of Mr. Biden’s infrastructure agenda would invest in the port infrastructure. The order would give the Coast Guard the ability to control the movement of vessels that pose a threat and require ports and port facilities to eliminate known or suspected cyber threats.
The announcement of the initiative comes as American officials, including the FBI director, warn that in the event of a conflict over Taiwan, Beijing could try to launch a large-scale hacking operation aimed at disrupting the power grid crippling oil pipelines and the water systems of the United States. On Tuesday, officials said the initiative was not a response to a specific threat.
Ms. Neuberger said the executive order is a transition from “requiring to requiring” that the nation’s shipping ports, which support 31 million jobs and serve as primary entry points for international cargo, assess any cybersecurity risks and report them to government agencies, including the FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.
But officials did not say how the new rules, which set a baseline for secure cybersecurity operations, would be enforced at the ports or what would happen if companies violated them.
The executive order also addresses long-standing concerns from regulators that many of the Chinese-made ship cranes in American ports could be tampered with to disrupt U.S. supply chain operations.
Rear Adm. John C. Vann of the Coast Guard told reporters that the agency is examining 200 cranes in the United States for cybersecurity vulnerabilities. He said about half of those had been investigated, but did not share what officials had found.
“These cranes, by design, can be controlled, maintained and programmed from remote locations,” he said, noting that these features may make Chinese-made manufacturing cranes “vulnerable to exploitation.”
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2024-02-21 10:04:50
www.nytimes.com
