The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has a new director, Jen Easterly. The Senate confirmed Easterly in July, with swearing taking place on August 09, 2021. It should come as no surprise to CISOs to see Easterly dig in and immediately leverage the newly minted Joint Cyber Defense Collaborative (JCDC), which was authorized in the National Defense Authorization Act of 2021.

The JCDC’s mission, according to CISA, is to “leverage new authorities” and “bring together public and private sector entities to unify deliberate and crisis action planning while coordinating the integrated education of these plans. The plans will promote national resilience by coordinating actions to identify, protect against, detect, and respond to malicious cyber activity targeting US critical infrastructure and national interests.”