Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen laid out the tenets of her agency’s new cybersecurity strategy and it came with a clear warning.
“Complacency is being replaced by consequences. We will not stand on the sidelines while our networks are compromised. We will not abide the theft of our data, our innovation and our resources. And we will not tolerate cyber meddling aimed at the heart of our democracy,” Nielsen said today at the RSA Conference in San Francisco, California. “The United States possesses a full spectrum of response options—both seen and unseen—and we will use them to call out malign behavior, punish it, and deter future cyber hostility. In today’s hyper-connected world, cybersecurity is national security. Our cyber defenses help guard our very democracy and all we hold dear. So to those who would try to attack our democracy, to affect our elections, to affect the elections of our allies, or to undermine national sovereignty, I have a simple word of warning: DON’T.”
Nielsen’s comments also set forth the mindset of the Trump administration and the forth coming DHS plan.
