US First-Ever Cybersecurity Move

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“A continuous learning culture is critical to staying ahead of the increasingly sophisticated cyber threats we face in today’s complex technology landscape,” says CISA Director Jen Easterly. In a first-ever cyber safety move, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has established a review board that will be tasked with investigating major national cybersecurity incidents in order to improve cyber resilience. The board brings together government and industry leaders to elevate US cybersecurity.

The Cyber Safety Review Board (CSRB), established upon President Biden’s Executive Order from May 2020 will review and assess significant cybersecurity events so that government, industry, and the broader security community can better protect US networks and infrastructure. 

Its first review will focus on the vulnerabilities discovered in late 2021 in the widely used log4j software library. These vulnerabilities, which are being exploited by a growing set of threat actors, present an urgent challenge to network defenders. As one of the most serious vulnerabilities discovered in recent years, its examination will generate many lessons learned for the cybersecurity community. 

Together, the White House and DHS determined that focusing on this vulnerability and its associated remediation process was the most important first use of the CSRB’s expertise.

The CSRB will provide a unique forum for collaboration between government and private sector leaders who will deliver strategic recommendations to the President and the Secretary of Homeland Security, according to dhs.gov. 

The CSRB is composed of 15 highly esteemed cybersecurity leaders from the federal government and the private sector. 

The CSRB’s first report, which will be published this summer, will include the following:

• “a review and assessment of vulnerabilities associated with the Log4j software library, to include associated threat activity and known impacts, as well as actions taken by both the government and the private sector to mitigate the impact of such vulnerabilities;
• recommendations for addressing any ongoing vulnerabilities and threat activity; and,
• recommendations for improving cybersecurity and incident response practices and policy based on lessons learned from the Log4j vulnerability.”