The new President’s administration is asking Congress to allocate U.S. $9 billion in emergency funds to fortify the federal IT and cybersecurity infrastructure. Although cybersecurity didn’t get much attention during the presidential campaign, the move indicates that protecting federal systems from cyber attacks is a key priority and focus area for the new administration.

The spending proposal is part of a COVID-19 response package proposed by the Biden administration. The sense of urgency to strengthen cybersecurity stems from a massive data breach in December 2020, which affected a number of federal agencies, including the U.S. Treasury Department and U.S. Department of Commerce. It is believed Russian attackers exploited vulnerabilities in software used by the agencies, as well as numerous private enterprises.

“This is an urgent national security issue that cannot wait,” the Biden administration said in a fact sheet circulated in Washington, D.C. “The recent cybersecurity breaches of federal government data systems underscore the importance and urgency of strengthening U.S. cybersecurity capabilities.”

The $9 billion would fund the launch of new IT and cybersecurity initiatives by the Cybersecurity and Information Agency (CISA) and the General Services Administration (GSA). It would also be applied to cybersecurity upgrades at other federal agencies. An additional $1.2 billion would fund new security programs at the GSA, recruitment of new cybersecurity and IT experts, and improvements in the government’s security monitoring and incident response.

Tapping Expertise

In addition to the funding proposals, the administration has been building its cybersecurity team. President Biden appointed Michael Sulmeyer, formerly senior adviser to National Security Agency (NSA) and U.S. Cyber Command leader Gen. Paul Nakasone, as White House senior director for cybersecurity.

Sulmeyer brings deep expertise to the new administration; he served in cybersecurity roles in both the Obama and Trump administrations. He has also served as director of the Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center’s Cyber Security Project and has written extensively on Department of Defense-related cybersecurity issues and election security.

Sulmeyer joins a White House cybersecurity advisory team that is chockfull of experts and already includes Anne Neuberger, the new deputy national advisor for cybersecurity and emerging technology.

The Biden administration also tapped former Rep. Cedric Richmond (D-LA) as senior advisor to the President and director of the White House Office of Public Engagement. During his time in the House of Representatives, the Congressman served as a member of the House Committee on Homeland Security and as the ranking member of the committee’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Protection Committee. Richmond, who delivered a keynote at the (ISC)² Security Congress in 2018, has worked on numerous cybersecurity-related issues, including funding CISA and protecting critical infrastructure. In his new role, he will presumably draw on his past experience with cybersecurity to advise the President.