Presidential Advisory Group Invites Public to Comment on Cyber Resilience Approaches

The President’s Council of Advisers on Science and Technology has established a working group dedicated to strengthening U.S. network protection and recovery capabilities against cyberattacks and is seeking public feedback to determine how to accomplish that task. PCAST wants to be informed on assessment methods for interconnected digital systems, investments to maintain resiliency and approaches to corresponding standards design.

Responses will be used in upcoming collaborative efforts with Mitre, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the Department of Homeland Security and the National Institutes of Standards and Technology, Nextgov reported.

Comprising subject matter experts and several PCAST members, the working group is expected to deliver recommendations to the president in six months.

According to a White House press release, the group’s formation was driven by a need to shift toward a “holistic, systems-thinking approach” instead of the current paradigm focused on repairing and reinforcing specific components. PCAST explained that the latter causes system-wide resilience to decline because it creates more dependencies between parts.