The energy sector is highly dependent on communications critical infrastructure and the communications sector is highly dependent on the electric grid. This announcement from the U.S. Communications Sector Coordinating Council (CSCC) signals a move to more a collaborative coordination on cybersecurity practices across critical infrastructure, through CISA. I'm anticipating other critical infrastructure sectors to follow the lead of the communications sector in joining with CISA on cybersecurity practices to protect all critical infrastructure sectors.
Could this be the model to eliminate siloed approaches and move forward collaboratively to protect all critical infrastructure? That would be very encouraging and efficient.
The U.S. Communications Sector Coordinating Council (CSCC) said its members have entered into new alliances with the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) in its Joint Cyber Defense Collaborative (JCDC) effort, while also formalizing and expanding their participation in the Enduring Security Framework (ESF) working group. The council is uniquely positioned to understand and mitigate security risks in the critical communications sector.
The CSCC coordinates industry engagement with the U.S. government on cyber and infrastructure security, resilience, and risk reduction. It works towards protecting American communications critical infrastructure and key resources while ensuring that its communications networks and systems are secure, resilient, and rapidly restored after a natural or man-made disaster. It also coordinates with industry participants in the National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee (NSTAC) and the Communications-Information Sharing and Analysis Center (NCCIC).
Working on national security priorities, the CSCC continued working towards securing the supply chain across multiple workstreams and engaging across federal agencies to promote concerted efforts and a consistent approach to supply chain risk management (SCRM). This included briefing the White House on feedback from over 200 entities representing all five segments of the communications sector to the extended continued effort as co-lead of the DHS information and communications technology (ICT) SCRM task force and is preparing for more engagement in the coming year, according to the report.