Thinking Forward About Federal Civilian Cybersecurity: Bringing Mission Execution and Cybersecurity Closer Together

We are in the midst of a digital transformation. Technology connects the world and is changing "everything." It changes how organizations deliver goods and services and how people live and work. At the same time, this improved connectivity increases our risks to data confidentiality, availability, integrity, human safety, and infrastructure reliability. Federal civilian organizations increasingly use networked technology to help deliver their missions, which can lead to attacks and disruption. Cyber-attacks often result in "mission breaches" that damage public trust and national and economic security. As mission executions are more dependent on networked technology, enterprise mission strategy and enterprise cybersecurity strategy must be linked. For new or existing leaders who help set direction and establish priorities for their organizations, this means that cybersecurity is not just about securing technology and data; it is about managing risk so that organizations can operate and sustain mission-essential services to the public despite cyber-attacks and disruptions. This paper provides technical and non-technical ideas that can help manage risk, tip the scales in your favor, and raise the cost to adversaries.