White House outlines ‘roadmap’ for cybersecurity goals

The White House on Thursday released a “roadmap” laying out its step-by-step plan to implement a national cybersecurity strategy unveiled earlier this year.

The administration first released the highly anticipated strategy in March, focusing on several key pillars, including defending critical infrastructure from cyberattacks, disrupting and dismantling cyber crime and forging international partnerships.

The roadmap — which the White House noted is the “first iteration” of its implementation plan and represents a “living document” meant to be updated annually — breaks down the cybersecurity strategy into 69 initiatives, specifying various deadlines for implementation over the next three years and which agency is leading each particular initiative.

“Today, the Administration is announcing a roadmap to realize this bold, affirmative vision,” the White House said in a press release. “It is taking the novel step of publishing the National Cybersecurity Strategy Implementation Plan to ensure transparency and a continued path for coordination.”

Several initiatives are meant to be completed by the end of the year, including a review of federal cybersecurity centers, the drafting of legislation to codify the Cyber Safety Review Board and the development of an international plan to discourage countries from acting as safe havens for ransomware criminals, among others.