https://www.wsj.com/articles/biden-administration-to-order-federal-agencies-to-fix-hundreds-of-cyber-flaws-11635937200
Biden Administration Orders Federal Agencies to Fix Hundreds of Cyber Flaws
Agencies come under new pressure to close cybersecurity flaws after sometimes balking at such measures in the past
Ransomware attacks are increasing in frequency, victim losses are skyrocketing, and hackers are shifting their targets. WSJ's Dustin Volz explains why these attacks are on the rise and what the U.S. can do to fight them. Photo illustration: Laura Kammermann
By Dustin Volz
Updated Nov. 3, 2021 11:18 am ET
WASHINGTON—The Biden administration on Wednesday issued a sweeping new order mandating that nearly all federal agencies patch hundreds of cybersecurity vulnerabilities that are considered major risks for damaging intrusions into government computer systems.
The new requirement is one of the most wide-reaching cybersecurity mandates ever imposed on the federal government. It covers about 200 known security flaws identified by cybersecurity professionals between 2017 and 2020 and an additional 90 discovered in 2021 alone that have generally been observed being used by malicious hackers. Those flaws were listed in a new federal catalog as carrying "significant risk to the federal enterprise."