Cybersecurity: President Obama’s Executive Order Is Only the Beginning

This On the Subject outlines why hospitals and financial services and communications companies should pay attention to the recent executive order entitled "Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity."

On February 12, 2013, shortly before he delivered his annual State of the Union address, President Obama signed an executive order entitled "Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity."  Anyone who believes this executive order answers the most important questions regarding its implementation vis-à-vis private-sector entities is mistaken.  In many ways, the executive order raises more questions than it answers:  How precisely will the administration designate "critical infrastructure"?  Will the administration cast a wide or narrow net?  Will participation in the Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity Program truly be "voluntary"?  Or, as some suggest, will private-sector entities that choose not to participate in such a program be susceptible to a "name and