Last month at a cybersecurity conference, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen M. Nielsen previewed the May unveiling of the department’s new cybersecurity strategy and issued a stern warning to cybercriminals. The new DHS Cybersecurity Strategy was released May 15.
To accomplish this new stance, the Department of Homeland Security’s Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) is working in tandem with DHS operational components by conducting research and development (R&D) in numerous areas that will help strengthen DHS’s ability to detect and defend against cyberattacks.
Speaking at the RSA Conference in San Francisco last month, Secretary Nielsen said, “I have a news flash for America’s adversaries: Complacency is being replaced by consequences. We will not stand on the sidelines while our networks are compromised. We will not abide the theft of our data, our innovation and our resources. And we will not tolerate cyber meddling aimed at the heart of our democracy.”
She added that DHS is adopting a more forward-leaning posture that will bolster the nation’s digital defenses by prioritizing enhancements in risk identification, vulnerability reduction, threat reduction and consequence mitigation. The new plan also included a new focal area: enabling cybersecurity outcomes.
“As the R&D arm of DHS, S&T is working on a wide range of research efforts that will greatly enhance the cybersecurity posture of critical infrastructure systems and the online environment,” said William N. Bryan, Senior Official Performing the Duties of the Under Secretary for Science and Technology. “These research efforts will lead to the development and implementation of new solutions that will make it possible for DHS to achieve the new cybersecurity strategy that Secretary Nielsen outlined in the new DHS Cybersecurity Strategy.”
S&T is conducting several R&D project that support the newly-introduced strategy.
