On July 28, 2021, President Biden
issued a “National Security Memorandum on Improving
Cybersecurity for Critical Infrastructure Control Systems”
(the “ICS Memo”). The ICS Memo—a product of the
100-day cybersecurity initiative we covered
here—is a further step by the Biden-Harris administration
to safeguard United States' critical infrastructure,
including that of the electric power sector, from “growing,
persistent, and sophisticated cyber threats” that could have
“cascading physical consequences [and] . . . a debilitating
effect on national security, economic security, and the public
health and safety of the American people.”1
The ICS Memo establishes an “Industrial Control Systems
Cybersecurity Initiative” (the “ICS Initiative”)
as “a voluntary, collaborative effort between the
Federal Government and the critical infrastructure community to
significantly improve the cybersecurity of these critical
systems.”2 The ICS Initiative's primary
objective is to defend
