Many of the important efforts by the Cybersecurity Infrastructure and Security Agency to help the healthcare sector and other critical infrastructure sectors bolster their cybersecurity posture during the Biden administration are likely to continue under the incoming Trump team, predicted CISA Deputy Director Nitin Natarajan.
“I think a lot of our foundational work in our efforts to serve as a national coordinator, really has been key,” Natarajan said in an interview with Information Security Media Group ahead of his plans to leave CISA on Jan. 20, when President Donald Trump takes office.
CISA’s efforts during the last four years around helping healthcare and other critical infrastructure sectors to better understand and mitigate vulnerabilities and risks, and improve resilience – for their own operations as well as their supply chains – have been crucial in for the nation, he said.
“I think that a lot of those issues frankly, are apolitical. They’re the things that we need to do to meet the core fundamental mission of an agency that’s focused on building resilience in our nation’s critical infrastructure from cyber and physical risks,” he said.
“So, I think that work will continue. I think any new administration that comes in always has a little bit different way of doing things, and are going to focus on different areas, or may have a different means to get there. But I think that a lot of this is going to keep pushing.”
In this audio interview with Information Security Media Group (see audio link below photo), Natarajan also discussed:
- How CISA’s pre-ransomware notification program has helped healthcare organizations and others defend against data encryption attacks;
- How smaller healthcare organizations with fewer resources can maximize their cybersecurity efforts;
- Critical lessons emerging from the February 2023 ransomware attack on Change Healthcare that disrupted the nation’s healthcare ecosystem for months last year.
Natarajan, appointed deputy director of CISA in February 2021, previously served in a variety of public and private-sector positions spanning over 30 years. Most recently, he served as a consulting firm executive. Natarajan also held a number of federal government roles, including deputy assistant administrator at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, director of critical infrastructure policy at the White House/National Security Council, and director at the U.S. Health and Human Services, overseeing healthcare and public health programs. At the beginning of his career, Natarajan spent 13 years as a first responder in New York, which included service as a flight paramedic.