President Donald Trump on Sept. 20 unveiled his "National Cyber Strategy," a set of actions the White House plans to take to improve cybersecurity preparedness across the U.S.
The National Cyber Strategy is the first "fully articulated cyber strategy" the U.S. has released since 2003, according to a White House statement by Grant Schneider, federal chief information security officer and senior director for cybersecurity policy.
President Trump's National Cyber Strategy outlines how the White House will promote cybersecurity across the nation's networks, systems and data, and it argues that a strong cybersecurity posture will preserve peace in the U.S. by strengthening the country's ability to deter international actors from malicious cyberattacks.
"This administration will not treat cyberspace as a separate arena," Mr. Schneider wrote. "Instead, we are integrating cyber into all elements of national power."
Here are the four guiding pillars of the National Cyber Strategy, along with examples of their associated action items, as written in President Trump's report:
1. Protect the American people, the homeland and the American way of life
- Secure federal networks and information
- Secure critical infrastructure
- Combat cybercrime and improve incident reporting
2. Promote American property
- Foster a vibrant and resilient digital economy
- Foster and protect U.S. ingenuity
- Develop a superior cybersecurity workforce
3. Preserve peace through strength
- Enhance cyber stability through norms of responsible state behavior
- Attribute and deter unacceptable behavior in cyberspace
4. Advance American influence
- Promote an open, interoperable, reliable and secure internet
- Build international cyber capacity
President Trump vowed to establish cybersecurity as a core issue throughout the 2016 U.S. presidential election, highlighting the topic as one of his 15 key policy areas and signing a cybersecurity executive order five months after assuming the presidency.
"Protecting America's national security and promoting the prosperity of the American people are my top priorities," President Trump wrote in the National Cyber Strategy. "America created the internet and shared it with the world. Now, we must make sure to secure and preserve cyberspace for future generations."
To read President Trump's cybersecurity strategy, click here.