The ministry will step up information sharing to counter hackers attacking US companies, agency chief Alejandro Mayorcas stressed
U.S. authorities, in light of recent cyber-extortion virus attacks, will order U.S. agency contractors to better protect their computer systems from hackers. It was announced on Monday by the US Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorcas on air of MSNBC TV channel.
The agency chief was asked whether companies that are operators of critical infrastructure should be required to protect themselves more thoroughly from hackers and work more actively with the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
“We are already taking steps in that direction”, – Mallorcas replied. – “We are obliging federal contractors to take certain cybersecurity measures.”
The minister noted that the Transportation Security Administration, which is part of the DHS, has prepared a series of “requirements for pipeline operators to raise cyber hygiene standards” following the cyber attack on US-based Colonial Pipeline.
The ISI is stepping up information sharing to counter hackers attacking U.S. companies, Mallorcas said. He explained that private businesses in the US should notify the ICE immediately in case of a sabotage by cybercriminals. In this case, Mayorkas said, the department would “spread the word around the country so that similar attacks do not succeed.”
The topic of threats in cyberspace has taken on a particular urgency in the US in recent months. In early May, hackers broke into Colonial Pipeline’s systems. On 31 May, an attack on the networks of JBS, the U.S. division of meat processor JBS, followed.