The White House has released the long-awaited National Cybersecurity Strategy, a document that lays forth initiatives to “secure the full benefits of a safe and secure digital ecosystem for all Americans”. As noted, this strategy is designed to rebalance the responsibility to defend cyberspace by shifting burden onto organizations that are most capable to reduce risks, as well as to realign incentives to favor long term investments for a resilient future.
This strategy affirms the mission set forth by the Department of Energy when it earmarked CyManII as the national Cybersecurity Manufacturing Innovation Institute in 2020. Since our inception, we have been working on behalf of our nation’s small and medium sized manufacturers to provide defensible oriented architectures embedded into manufacturing systems, strengthening our resiliency, and competitiveness on the global stage.
CyManII’s membership model encourages manufacturers to be part of the solution, a position aligned with the White House strategy emphasizing the need to shift cybersecurity responsibility to OEM’s and technology providers. As such, our inherent goals are three-fold:
- Defensive Oriented Architectures: Secure the Digital Thread by developing state-of-the-art solutions for smart manufacturing processes across the supply chain.
- Secure TOGETHER: Partner with U.S. Manufacturing by deploying solutions in manufacturing systems to eliminate attacks.
- CyManII Sealed: Create a Cyber-informed Workforce by working at scale to provide cybersecurity training within the incumbent manufacturing workforce.
CyManII CEO Howard Grimes provided this commentary on the White House policy statement: “We are encouraged by the directive of this strategy by the Biden-Harris administration as it affirms our mission to engage manufacturers as part of the cybersecurity solution. With members, we are building the foundation that will defend our critical infrastructure with embedded solutions deployed directly into Operational Systems. In parallel, we will also provide training solutions to develop a cyber-informed workforce that will recognize and defend against “bad actors” determined to weaken our industrial base. We look forward to working with the White House to further implement this vision to make our nation secure, sustainable, and prosperous.”
In the coming months, CyManII will release RFP’s with funding to members in support of research to advance solutions. In addition, the institute will be opening the Cyber for Manufacturing Demonstration Facility at Port San Antonio, designed to provide cyber training for technology developers.