The White House will provide a classified briefing to aviation executives on current cyberthreats. This is an ongoing effort from the White House to persuade private and critical infrastructure industries to invest more heavily in cyber defense.
The Biden Administration signed a national security memorandum last summer assigning federal agencies to develop cybersecurity regulations for industry.
Anne Neuberger, the deputy national security advisor for cybersecurity with the Biden Administration, has reported that so far these briefings are highly effective.
Attacks on the aviation industry are escalating in capability. According to a Proofpoint research publication, there are “consistent, active cyber threats” since 2017 to aviation entities.
In April of 2021, the Biden Administration launched the industrial control system cybersecurity initiative. Focusing on over 150 electric utilities and 90 million customers, the effort predated the Colonial Pipeline attack by only a month. The attack was an affirmation that the country needs to drastically improve cybersecurity defenses for critical infrastructure and continuity of operations amidst an attack.
