Trump expected to sign cyber security executive order Tuesday: source
[WASHINGTON] President Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order on cyber security on Tuesday, two sources familiar with the situation said, marking the first action to address what he has called a top priority of his administration.
The order is expected to commission several different reviews of the government's offensive and defensive cyber capabilities, according to one of the sources and a third briefed on a draft of the order that circulated last week.
The move follows a presidential campaign that was dominated by running storylines related to cyber security, including the hacking and subsequent leaking of Democratic emails as part of what US intelligence agencies determined was a wide-ranging influence operation intended to help Mr Trump win the White House and denigrate his challenger, Democrat Hillary Clinton.
For months Mr Trump refused to accept the conclusions of the agencies that Russia was responsible, before stating at a press conference on Jan 11 that, "as far as hacking I think it was Russia".
In his answer, Mr Trump, then the president-elect, pivoted to say that "we also get hacked by other countries, and other people" while vowing to launch a government-wide review of vulnerabilities to cyber attacks.
The order is expected to also initiate a audit of several federal agencies' cyber capabilities, seek input on how to improve protections for critical infrastructure, and review government efforts to attract and train a technically sophisticated workforce, according to two of the sources briefed on the draft, which was first published by the Washington Post.
The draft order would also seek ways to give the private sector incentives to adopt strong security measures.
REUTERS
BT is now on Telegram!
For daily updates on weekdays and specially selected content for the weekend. Subscribe to t.me/BizTimes
International
Oil prices steady after Iran plays down reported Israeli attack
G7 pledges swift aid for Ukraine, seeks to calm Middle East
H5N1 strain of bird flu found in milk: WHO
China moves to boost foreign investment in domestic tech companies
Xi orders China’s biggest military reorganisation since 2015
Warner Bros CEO earned US$49.7 million in strike-impacted year