Press Release

CISA Releases Plan to Align Operational Cybersecurity Priorities for Federal Agencies

Released
Related topics:
Organizations and Cyber Safety, Cybersecurity Best Practices

WASHINGTON – The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) published the Federal Civilian Executive Branch (FCEB) Operational Cybersecurity Alignment (FOCAL) Plan today. As the operational lead for federal cybersecurity, CISA uses this plan to guide coordinated support and services to agencies, drive progress on a targeted set of priorities, and align collective operational defense capabilities. The end result is reducing the risk to more than 100 FCEB agencies.

Each FCEB agency has a unique mission, and thus have independent networks and system architectures to advance their critical work. This independence means that agencies have different cyber risk tolerance and strategies. However, a collective approach to cybersecurity reduces risk across the interagency generally and at each agency specifically, and the FOCAL Plan outlines this will occur. CISA developed this plan in collaboration with FCEB agencies to provide standard, essential components of enterprise operational cybersecurity and align collective operational defense capabilities across the federal enterprise.

“Federal government data and systems interconnect and are always a target for our adversaries. FCEB agencies need to confront this threat in a unified manner and reduce risk proactively,” said CISA Executive Assistant Director for Cybersecurity, Jeff Greene. “The actions in the FOCAL plan orient and guide FCEB agencies toward effective and collaborative operational cybersecurity and will build resilience. In collaboration with our partner agencies, CISA is modernizing federal agency cybersecurity.”

The FOCAL plan is organized into five priority areas that align with agencies’ metrics and reporting requirements. Each priority has goals ranging from addressing universal cybersecurity challenges such as managing the attack surface of internet-accessible assets and bolstering cloud security to long-rage efforts including building a defensible architecture that is resilient in the face of evolving security incidents. The priority areas for FCEB agencies are:

  • Asset Management – fully understand the cyber environment, including the operational terrain and interconnected assets.
  • Vulnerability Management – proactively protect enterprise attack surface and assess defensive capabilities.
  • Defensible Architecture – design cyber infrastructure with an understanding that security incidents will happen, and that resilience is essential.
  • Cyber Supply Chain Risk Management (C-SCRM) - quickly identify and mitigate risks, including from third parties, posed to federal IT environments.
  • Incident Detection and Response - improve the ability of Security Operations Centers (SOCs) to detect, respond to, and limit the impact of security incidents.

The FOCAL Plan was developed for FCEB agencies, but public and private sector organizations should find it useful as a roadmap to establish their own plan to bolster coordination of their enterprise security capabilities. 

The Plan is not intended to provide a comprehensive or exhaustive list that an agency or CISA must accomplish. Rather, it is designed to focus resources on actions that substantively advance operational cybersecurity improvements and alignment goals.

For more information CISA federal cybersecurity, please see Securing Networks or email CISA-FEIT@cisa.dhs.gov.

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As the nation’s cyber defense agency and national coordinator for critical infrastructure security, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency leads the national effort to understand, manage, and reduce risk to the digital and physical infrastructure Americans rely on every hour of every day.

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