US State Department Announces New Cybersecurity Bureau To Combat Threats

While the mention of cyberattacks may conjure images of black-hat operatives sitting behind a screen, it could cause a very real impact on people’s daily lives. 

In fact, the Center for Strategic & International Studies keeps an updated list of significant cyber incidents, in which government agencies, defense firms, and technology companies are targeted or have lost more than a million dollars. 

Just in March alone, hackers have hit a major Israeli telecommunications provider, US state web applications, the National Research Council of Canada, and US-based broadband firm Viasat. 

To combat this growing threat, the US State Department has launched a new cybersecurity bureau that will make happenings in the cyberspace part of the country’s greater foreign policy plans.

Named the Bureau of Cyberspace and Digital Policy (CDP), the organization will include three units, including International Cyberspace Security, International Information and Communications Policy, and Digital Freedom.

According to TechRadar, the bureau will be staffed with nearly 100 employees, with over 60 staff coming over from the offices of cyber coordination and international communications. 

Currently, the Senior Foreign Service’s Jennifer Bachus will serve as the bureau’s Principal Deputy Assistance Secretary until the Senate confirms an Ambassador-at-Large to take charge. 

Lawmakers have expressed support for the founding of the new organization, with Representative Jim Langevin, co-chair of the Congressional Cybersecurity Caucus, telling the Washington Post that the country needs to maintain a “strong diplomatic presence” as the threat of cyber incidents become more serious and frequent. 

[via TechRadar and US Department of State, cover image via Peerapong Boriboon | Dreamstime.com]