DHS Launches Cyber Risk Management Center

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has announced to launch a new cyber risk management center which is intended to protect the nation’s banks, energy companies and other industries from the potentially cyber attacks on the critical infrastructure, according to the agency officials who spoke at the 31 July cybersecurity summit hosted by DHS.

The DHS secretary Kirstjen Neilsen led a panel to discuss Department of Energy Secretary Rick Perry, Cyber Command and National Security Agency leader Gen. Paul Nakasone, FBI director Christopher Wray, Mastercard CEO Ajay Banga, AT&T CEO John Donovan and Southern Company CEO Tom Fanning. They are hoping to launch the center in just 90 days from now; the DHS has also established a force that will especially focus on the threats to the industrial supply chain.

“It is great to have DHS take the lead to coordinate the public-private partnerships that protect the national critical infrastructure,” said Joseph Kucic, chief security officer at Cavirin. “In the past, various agencies attempted to address the critical infrastructure through single agency initiative (i.e: FBI via InfraGuard; Deparment of Commerce via NIST, etc.). Having one coordinated overall lead organization will reinforce our cyber vision.”

The main goal of this Cyber Hub is to define the common risk management frameworks and security metrics, which aims to approach the current deploy consistent peer measurement process which can be implemented.

“The truth success of this new coordinated effort would be to take an end-to-end approach and over all areas of cybersecurity (infrastructure, applications, end points, IoT, iCS, data, user identity, and transactions) so that we can achieve an overall security posture to protect all Americans,” Kucic said.

Threats from the state sponsored attackers have highlighted that the urgent support to betterment to protect the critical infrastructure and to identify the risk within the supply chain is needed. “Our cyber adversaries are far more powerful, motivated and well funded than ever before,” said Bill Conner, CEO, SonicWall.

“They are fueled by malicious intent to strike at the heart of the American economy, infrastructure and even our civil liberties. The Department of Homeland Security’s attention and commitment to cybersecurity is to be commended.”