The formation of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency (CISA) came at one of increasingly significant cyber volatility and risk. With so much emphasis on cyber, it’s all too often easy to forget about the second part of CISA’s mission – infrastructure security. In addition to the breadth of those two missions and their frequent intersection, there is also a global reach that can’t be ignored.
“Cybersecurity doesn’t stop at the border. You can’t operate in a vacuum,” said Ann Hunziker branch chief for chemical security, policy, rulemaking and engagement at CISA. “While we’re a domestic-focused agency, in order to really protect the homeland it requires us to have relationships, experts, and ongoing, active types of exchanges with international partners from around the world.”
“What we’re experiencing, the lessons that we’ve learned and different things our allies have encountered really help all of us to bolster what we’re doing,” emphasized Hunziker.
It isn’t just nation states that CISA regularly collaborates with, but also public and private partner organizations. Much of that work is proactive, and the National Risk Management portfolio includes supply chain risk management, election security, 5G, and pipeline security. The hope is that by bringing diverse organizations together to collaborate, they can better prioritize and manage risk. Together, CISA and its partners can create a ‘risk picture’ between infrastructure sectors.
They work with member partners to help identify and prevent issues, but also countries who have experienced attacks or disasters that opened their eyes to the risks within their borders, such as the Beirut explosion, said Hunziker.
Despite its short, two year tenure, CISA is already making itself known as a key player in the international cybersecurity scene.
“We have a huge emphasis right now on ensuring the work we’re doing and the information and expertise we’re able to acquire is able to be shared with our international allies,” said Hunziker.
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