National Cybersecurity: Strategies, Challenges, and Innovations

Federal agencies and our nation’s critical infrastructures—such as energy, transportation systems, communications, and financial services—depend on technology systems to carry out operations and process, maintain, and report essential information. The security of these systems and data is vital to protecting individual privacy and national security, prosperity, and well-being. However, risks to technology systems are increasing. Malicious actors are becoming more willing and capable of carrying out cyberattacks, which could result in serious harm to human safety, the environment, and the economy. Agencies and critical infrastructure owners and operators must protect the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of their systems and effectively respond to cyberattacks. Federal agencies can strengthen cybersecurity by fully establishing and effectively implementing a comprehensive national cyber strategy, a government-wide cyber workforce plan, strategies for monitoring privacy programs, and critical infrastructure cyber protections.