Cybersecurity

Cybersecurity policy addresses how the U.S. government, critical infrastructure operators, and private companies defend against hacking, ransomware, espionage, and sabotage in the digital domain. Cyberattacks have become one of the most consequential national security threats facing the United States: state-sponsored actors from Russia, China, North Korea, and Iran regularly target government networks, defense contractors, utilities, financial institutions, and hospitals. The 2020 SolarWinds attack — in which Russian hackers infiltrated the networks of multiple federal agencies through a compromised software update — exposed deep vulnerabilities in U.S. cyber defenses. The 2021 Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack shut down fuel supplies to the U.S. East Coast for nearly a week, demonstrating the physical consequences of cyberattacks on critical infrastructure. China's Salt Typhoon hacking campaign, revealed in 2024, compromised telecommunications networks including those used for lawful wiretapping by U.S. law enforcement. Critical infrastructure — power grids, water systems, financial systems, election systems, and hospitals — is mostly privately owned, creating a complex public-private partnership challenge. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), established in 2018, coordinates national cyber defense. Congress has passed mandatory breach reporting rules for critical infrastructure sectors and is debating minimum cybersecurity standards. Internationally, the EU's NIS2 Directive establishes mandatory cybersecurity requirements across member states.