Although Cybersecurity Awareness Month has been observed in some fashion for more than 20 years, the federal agency leading the effort to #SecureOurWorld has only existed since late 2018. Let’s dive into this week’s Tech Time Warp.
The origin story of the Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency, aka CISA, begins in the months following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, when President George W. Bush established an Office of Homeland Security to ensure collaboration among the various entities responsible for counterterrorism efforts. This included the FBI, CIA, National Security Agency, as well as a Homeland Security Council to advise the president. In 2003, these became the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which assumed control over several agencies, including what is now U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Transportation Security Administration.
In 2007, in response to growing cyber threats, DHS created the National Protection and Programs Directorate (NPPD), a rather generically named program tasked with overseeing federal and civilian cybersecurity programs. For more than 10 years, American cybersecurity was the responsibility of this program. It wasn’t until November 2018 that legislation elevating NPPD from program to agency was signed by President Donald Trump.
As it became a full-fledged agency, NPPD was rebranded as CISA, and its work was officially operationalized, which gave U.S. cybersecurity initiatives more funding and more authority. Among its many charges, CISA is responsible for cybersecurity across federal agencies, election security, and collaboration with states and the private sector.
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Photo: Faizal Ramli / Shutterstock
