https://www.nextgov.com/cybersecurity/2018/04/dhs-might-provide-cyber-services-directly-industry-under-new-strategy/147502/SAN FRANCISCO – A new cybersecurity strategy due out within days from the White House envisions the Homeland Security Department providing cybersecurity services directly to critical infrastructure providers, such as hospitals, airports and energy companies.
The system, which Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen described as “security as a service,†would be a major step forward for the department, which, historically, has helped critical infrastructure mostly by sharing cyber threat information and helping them respond after a breach has already occurred.
Nielsen described the program as a “natural evolution†to heightened cyber threats.
The announcement came on the same day that Nielsen’s department and its United Kingdom counterpart warned about a Russian government hacking campaign targeting government and critical infrastructure systems.
The system might function similarly to the continuous diagnostics and mitigation program, through which DHS provides a suite of cyber tools and dashboards to federal agencies, Nielsen told reporters on the sidelines of the RSA Cybersecurity Conference in San Francisco.
