US has made progress on cyber but more needed, report says

The federal government has made “significant” progress on strengthening the United States against cyber threats over the past year, but more work remains, a congressionally-established bipartisan committee concluded in a report published Thursday.

The Cyberspace Solarium Commission (CSC) — a group composed of members of Congress, federal officials and industry leaders — found in its 2021 implementation report that around three-quarters of its recommendations for defending the U.S. against cyber threats have been implemented since March 2020.

The CSC was charged by Congress with submitting recommendations for strengthening the nation’s cyber defense, with the CSC publishing 82 recommendations last year. Among those implemented include the creation of a national cyber director position at the White House, with Chris Inglis confirmed by the Senate to the position last month, and strengthening the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA).

More than two dozen of the CSC’s recommendations were included in the most recent National Defense Authorization Act, most with bipartisan support.

But the report Thursday stressed that in the wake of a year of escalating attacks, such as the ransomware attacks on Colonial Pipeline and meat producer JBS USA, more remains to be done.