Cybersecurity National Action Plan

A. ”FACT SHEET: Cybersecurity National Action Plan

Taking bold actions to protect Americans in today’s digital world.” On February  6, 2016,  a statement was released from the white house discussing the Cybersecurity Act, which is President Obamas new  plan of action he has set to strengthen the national cybersecurity.  This is an updated  and improved act from the original Cybersecurity act Obama had released in 2015. 

In the statement it demonstrates how Obama is setting up new system to prevent cyber attackers, and how  strategic planning can help fight them as well. In the article it clearly shows that president Obama takes cyber-attacks very seriously. Due to the great number of cyberattacks, and its increase in frequency and sophistication, President Obama came up with different ways to lessen the such frequent attacks.

The Cybersecurity act provided important tools to strengthen our nations cybersecurity.  President Obama still believes that there has to be more steps taken to ensure our cyber safety. The new cybersecurity national action plan (CNAP)  is a long term strategy that with strengthen cybersecurity.  The new plan will protect privacy, maintain public safety including economic and national security.  It will also give us the opportunity  to have a more effective control of our digital security.  Listed below, are a few of the  many actions listed in the CNAP:

1. The government is starting an Information Technology Modernization Fund,  which will be a total of $3.1 billion.  This  will allow the retirement, replacement, and modernization of the current IT that is difficult to secure and costs a lot to upkeep.  The government even created new position which is the Federal Chief Information Security Officer.  Their position in the government will be to help aid the changes being made. 

2. They are hoping to encourage Americans to secure their online accounts. This will be done by using more then just a simple password and an extra layer of protection.  By combining a strong password with additional safety factors, such as a fingerprint or a single use code delivered in a text message,  we can keep our accounts even more secure. In addition a new National Cybersecurity Awareness  Campaign is being launched with the focus on multi factor authentication.  This campaign will be set up by the National Cyber Security Alliance, to arm consumers with simple accessible information educating everyone with the easy steps they can take to protect them selves in a world that’s only becoming more digital. 

3. The National Cyber Security Alliance will also partner with leading technology firms like Google, Facebook, DropBox, and Microsoft to make it easier for millions of users to ensure safety on their online accounts.  Financial services companies such as MasterCard, Visa, and PayPal will also be working on making transactions more secure.

4. The Federal Government will take steps to safeguard personal data online between citizens and the government, through a new action plan to drive the Federal Government’s use of identity proofing and strong authentication methods and a systematic review of where the Federal Government can lessen  their reliance on Social Security Numbers as a main source  of identification to citizens.    

5  There will be over $19 billion invested in to cybersecurity as part of the President’s Fiscal Year 2017 Budget. 

“I’m confident we can unleash the full potential of American innovation, and ensure our prosperity and security online for the generations to come.”-President Obama

B. In the article "Top 10 Tips for Educating Employees About Cybersecurity" Witten by Kaspersky Lab, a business security firm, discuses the importance of educating employees on cybersecurity. She states that recently cyber threats are increasing greatly.  Week after week you hear of all these major data breaches occurring,  each breach exposing more information than the last. All businesses are potential targets and have data they cant afford being public. Often cyber criminals pick a target to attack and design programs and write malicious codes to gain access in to a companies data, siphon private customer information and raid a companies financial data.  However, this is not always the way criminals can make there way in to a companies database. Many times, they gain access from a companies employees' negligence or ignorance. Because of this, it is essential that all people in a business who use computers, or interact with systems on the company’s network, should