As part of a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief plan, President Joe Biden plans to inject billions into the U.S.’s IT infrastructure and remediate the SolarWinds breach, according to text of the plan.
In addition to stimulus checks, small business relief and vaccines, Biden’s plan calls for modernization of the country’s IT systems to protect against future cyber attacks.
Notably, this plan comes as the country is still uncovering shocking details of the SolarWinds attacks that provided a backdoor into the networks of nearly 18,000 organizations.
The plan specifically mentions SolarWinds, boosting the country’s defenses and protecting the COVID-19 vaccine process.
“President-elect Biden is calling on Congress to launch the most ambitious effort ever to modernize and secure federal IT and networks,” reads the proposal, which was posted online before Biden was sworn in as the 46th president.
According to the plan, Biden is calling for a $9 billion investment to help the country launch new IT and cybersecurity shared services at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the General Services Administration and complete modernization projects at federal agencies.
The SolarWinds attackers — who are believed to be supported by Russia — appear to have targeted government agencies like the Department of Justice, Department of Commerce, Department of Energy, and CISA itself, among others. The company recently hired former CISA director Chris Krebs to help it repair its image and solve its security issues.
Welcome, @POTUS! ⁰⁰Our team is ready to work alongside the new administration to help the nation defend against today’s threats and to build a more secure & resilient infrastructure for the future. #DefendTodaySecureTommorrow #Inauguration
— Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (@CISAgov) January 20, 2021
The plan also calls for $200 million to fund the hiring of cybersecurity and engineering experts to support federal technology agencies.
The proposal also asks for $300 million to build shared, secure services to drive transformational projects without the need of reimbursement from agencies.
Finally, the Biden administration is calling for $690 million for CISA to boost cybersecurity across federal civilian networks and support the piloting of new shared security and cloud computing services.
Biden has said he wants Congress to consider the bill by the end of the month, and it could pass shortly after given the rising number of infections and deaths due to COVID-19.
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