President Obama takes additional action on cybersecurity

On February 9, President Obama has signaled his — and Washington’s — increasing focus on cybersecurity; his 2017 budget proposal included $19 billion directed toward cybersecurity-related issues.  In addition to this budget proposal, the president issued an executive order, creating two new cybersecurity initiatives: the Commission on Enhancing National Cybersecurity and the Federal Privacy Council. The commission will be comprised of leaders in public and private sector commerce and law enforcement and is set to make recommendations to the president by December 1, 2016, on improving online security in America.  The Federal Privacy Council includes the lead privacy officials at 25 federal agencies and is charged with coordinating the protection of government data.  The president also indicated plans to establish a Chief Information Security Officer position at the federal level. (More information regarding these efforts can be found here and here.)