The Biden administration is looking to require companies to upgrade cybersecurity measures as part of its $2.3 trillion infrastructure spending plan in the wake of the ransomware attack on the Colonial Pipeline, the most successful cyberattack ever on energy infrastructure in the United States.
Previously, President Joe Biden’s American Jobs Plan did not mention cybersecurity as a priority among its provisions for spending on clean energy, power grid improvements, and electric vehicle charging stations.
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But now, the administration is interested in requiring that grant recipients implement cybersecurity protections and in issuing tax credits for such improvements, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said at a briefing Wednesday.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, also speaking at the press briefing, said the American Jobs Plan will be “funding and supporting” measures to ensure U.S. critical infrastructure is “resilient” against cyberthreats.
“Part of the expectation for local authorities, states, or other bodies seeking to get funding is that there be robust cybersecurity, resilience, and planning written into that,” Buttigieg said. “This is not an extra. This is not a luxury. This is not an option. This has to be core to how we secure our critical infrastructure.”
Despite inserting the issue of cybersecurity into its infrastructure plan, the Biden administration is so far not endorsing calls from some Democrats this week for Congress to establish mandatory pipeline cybersecurity standards similar to those already applied to the electricity sector.
Buttigieg reiterated that the vast majority of infrastructure, including pipelines, are owned and operated by companies and not the federal government as the administration seeks to prod the private sector to prepare better.
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“We are being reminded private companies and often local authorities own and operate so many of critical infrastructure we count on,” Buttigieg said.
