WASHINGTON—The Obama administration is creating a new high-level federal official to coordinate cybersecurity across civilian agencies and to work with military and intelligence counterparts, as part of its 2017 budget proposal announced Tuesday.
The $19-billion increase in cybersecurity funding across all government agencies — up more than from 35 percent from last year — is entitled the “Cybersecurity National Action Plan” and is an effort touted by the White House as the “capstone” of seven years of often faltering attempts to build a cohesive, broad federal cybersecurity response. Measures include more training for the private sector, emphasizing measures such as password and pin authentication to sign onto tax data and government benefits. The budget also proposes that the government reduce the use of Social Security numbers for identification.
