The U.S. National Cybersecurity Strategy, launched in March 2023, significantly changed the government’s vision for combating cyberthreats and encouraged the U.S. to work with its allies internationally.
Andy Williams, CEO of Global Transatlantic Ltd and co-founder of the Transatlantic Cybersecurity Business Network (TCBN), gave a key presentation on the plan at CRESTCon Europe on May 18, 2023 in London. I explained the point.
To realize this vision, he said he recognizes that the US government will need to make two fundamental changes in how roles, responsibilities and resources are allocated in cyberspace.
- Shift the burden of cybersecurity from individuals, small businesses and local governments to organizations dedicated to combating cyber incidents
- Recalibrate incentives to encourage long-term investments in cybersecurity
With these two new goals in mind, he said the U.S. government also recognized that it needed to engage in international efforts.
“For the first time, the strategic document contained a genuine intention to work more internationally with our allies,” Williams said. Information security.
Anti-ransomware initiative
The best example of this is the Counter Ransomware Initiative (CRI). This is his multinational law enforcement agency launched in November 2022 in 36 countries, including the Five Eyes (USA, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand) and 27 of her EU Member States. , Brazil, Nigeria, South Africa, South Korea, Singapore, and the United Arab Emirates.
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CRI members have already agreed on several initiatives, including:
- Australia-led International Ransomware Task Force (ICRTF)
- Numerous other task forces, including one dedicated to fighting financial cybercrime, led by the UK and Singapore
- A shared investigative toolkit including techniques, tactics and procedures (TTPs) and cyberthreat trends
- joint recommendation
- Capacity-building tools to help countries leverage public-private partnerships to combat ransomware
- Twice a year anti-ransomware exercises
Williams said he found it particularly interesting to see countries like Australia and Singapore leading ad hoc committees within US-backed initiatives. “Previously, the US or the UK probably would have been responsible,” he added.
Destroying the Hive Ransomware Group
From a U.S. perspective, the co-founder of TCBN believes the decision to join such an international effort was also due in part to the appointment of new talent to senior leadership positions in the cybersecurity community within the government. .
“Joe Biden said in his May 2021 Executive Order on Improving Nation’s Cybersecurity that there was no mention of what exactly that would look like, but that the administration has made broader decisions like the CRI. ,” Williams claimed.
It looks like it’s already paying off. “Though not fully formal at the time, the launch of CRI definitely contributed to the January 2023 takedown of the Hive ransomware group by US law enforcement,” Williams claimed.
Other initiatives include the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) post-quantum competition, open to all applicants worldwide, and Digital Security by Design (DSbD), a public-private initiative funded by the US and UK. ) And so on. , indicating that the U.S. government is increasingly looking beyond borders when it comes to cyberspace.
