Jeanette Manfra, assistant director for cybersecurity at DHS, says a government-industry task force for securing the telecommunications supply chain formed last year will be central to the department's role under a recent Trump executive order targeting foreign threats.
“We would not create another body,” Manfra said in the latest podcast from the Information Technology Information Sharing and Analysis Center.
She noted the Department of Homeland Security will be responsible for “assessing” the national security risks under President Trump's executive order signed May 15, which requires the Commerce Department to issue rules within 150 days for identifying foreign adversaries and banning U.S. purchases from companies in those countries.
The order comes amid heightened concern about China's influence in the buildout of 5G networks, and is widely seen as targeting tech giant Huawei. Commerce has already placed Huawei on its “entities list” banning U.S. sales to the company, but suspended that action for 90 days while the department works on the regulations called for by Trump's order.
“The task force is the center of gravity” for DHS work on supply-chain security, said Manfra, who leads the cybersecurity division at the new Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.
Manfra also noted passage late last year of the SECURE Technology Act, which created the Federal Acquisition Security Council, and the DHS task force will play a role in that group's development of government purchasing rules.
She said the DHS supply-chain task force will “be our touch point” for industry input to the council, adding the central role for the task force reflects a broader effort for streamlining government operations and industry interactions.
Manfra also talked about the agency's use of “binding operational directives,” or BODs, and the agency's successes in securing government emails and publicly facing websites.
The DHS Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Supply Chain Risk Management Task Force includes government and industry members and is co-chaired by DHS and leaders of the telecommunications and IT industries.
“The ICT Supply Chain Task Force will be a key element of the newly established DHS National Risk Management Center,” according to a DHS fact sheet released when the group was formed. “The Task Force is intended to focus on potential near- and long-term solutions to manage strategic risks through policy initiatives and opportunities for innovative public-private partnership,” according to DHS. – Rick Weber (rweber@iwpnews.com)