Melissa Hathaway, president of consulting firm Hathaway Global Strategies, has called on President-elect Donald Trump to prioritize cybersecurity initiatives in his budget plan.
Hathaway wrote in an opinion piece published Sunday on The Post and Courier that Trump must focus on efforts to secure energy, telecommunications and financial systems against what she noted are increasing cyber risks as the systems become connected to the internet.
According to the former head of President Barack Obama’s cyberspace policy review, Trump should work with the Federal Emergency Management Agency to bolster cyber resilience at state and local utilities through the Homeland Security Grant Program.
Hathaway also noted the president-elect must launch a national campaign that facilitates collaboration between the government and private sector to secure telecom systems as well as require internet service providers to provide early warning of new infections and help customers identify and address vulnerabilities.
The incoming administration should also collaborate with China and Germany and the Treasury Department should partner with global and U.S. financial institutions to launch cyber defenses for the global financial system and establish payment pattern controls, certification programs for third-party vendors and trustworthiness metrics, she said.
“All these problems, finally, may be exacerbated by the rise of the Internet of Things, “ wrote Hathaway, who also currently serves as a senior adviser at Harvard Kennedy School™s Belfer Center.
“Without better oversight, the Internet of Things will generate more botnets, command-and-control servers and computers susceptible to ransomware.”
