Cyber defense

Jen Easterly: CISA to Start Autonomous Vulnerability Warning Program By End of 2024,

Jen Easterly, director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, has disclosed her office’s plan to start offering an automated vulnerability warning program, alerting organizations when they are targeted by hackers.

The U.S. cybersecurity agency chief, a 2024 Wash100 winner, discussed how organizations benefit from the program and how it would use its administrative subpoena authority to alert organizations with vulnerable devices.

Mandated by the Cyber Incident Reporting for Critical Infrastructure Act of 2022, the program is already running in a pilot phase and aims to reduce ransomware attacks targeting vulnerable systems, CyberScoop reported.

The United States has recently been an attractive target for malicious actors. To address the increasingly worrying situation, CISA and the Federal Emergency Management Agency issued a joint guidance in November to ensure that every organization in the nation is prepared to address a cyberattack.

CISA also called on organizations in February to prioritize cyber defense against advanced persistent threats from foreign adversaries, including China.