The Total Energies Leuna refinery in Germany in Oct. 2022. Photo: Jan Woitas/picture alliance via Getty Images
The Biden administration will announce a new 100-day sprint later today aimed at better protecting chemical facilities and manufacturers from cyberattacks, a senior administration official tells Axios.
Why it matters: The chemical sector has been running on cybersecurity regulations that haven't been updated in more than a decade. Those are no longer enough to fend off the sprawling threat facilities face, the official said.
The big picture: The administration has been focusing on strengthening cyber practices among the country's 16 critical infrastructure sectors, one industry at a time.
Details: The senior administration official told Axios the plan coming today from the White House and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency will have several components to it — mirroring previous 100-day sprints for the electric, oil and gas and water sectors.
A senior CISA official also told Axios that the agency will encourage the chemical sector to adopt new cybersecurity performance goals it's releasing later this week, which will lay out baseline guidelines for all critical infrastructure sectors.
The intrigue: Unlike other sectors' sprints, the chemical one will solely run through CISA since the agency is also the chemical sector's risk management agency.
What they're saying: "100 days is not a lot of time for big cybersecurity changes," the CISA official said.
What's next: During the 100-day sprint, CISA will be focused heavily on trying to jumpstart cybersecurity changes within the sector, but the CISA official said these conversations will continue even after the sprint is over.
