The US Department of Commerce and the Department of Homeland Security have jointly released a report that offers a guide to actions that would ‘dramatically reduce the threat of botnets and similar cyberattacks’. The report, ‘Enhancing the Resilience of the Internet and Communications Ecosystem Against Botnets and Other Automated, Distributed Threats’, responds to a May 2017 Executive Order on Strengthening the Cybersecurity of Federal Networks and Critical Infrastructure.
The report lists five complementary goals that would improve the resilience of the Internet ecosystem, as well as more than 20 suggested actions that key stakeholders can take to achieve those goals.
The five complementary goals are:
- Identify a clear pathway toward an adaptable, sustainable, and secure technology marketplace.
- Promote innovation in the infrastructure for dynamic adaptation to evolving threats.
- Promote innovation at the edge of the network to prevent, detect, and mitigate automated, distributed attacks.
- Promote and support coalitions between the security, infrastructure, and operational technology communities domestically and around the world.
- Increase awareness and education across the ecosystem.
“Automated, distributed threats are a systemic challenge that no one actor – government or commercial can solve,” said David J. Redl, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information and NTIA Administrator, US Department of Commerce. “Over the past year, we heard from industry, government, academia and civil society on the importance of working together and developed a roadmap to protect the Internet from botnets. Now that we have itemized the challenges, we look forward to getting to work on concrete actions to accomplish these goals.”
Read the report (PDF).
