The missed opportunities in White House’s critical infrastructure directive

A White House national security memorandum (NSM-22) updates the 11-year-old PPD-21 on critical infrastructure but leaves significant gaps that experts say require congressional action, particularly around funding, authorities, and minimum cybersecurity standards. The memo formalizes CISA as the national coordinator and permits biennial sector reviews, yet declines to add sectors like space systems or cloud computing despite growing dependence. Analysts highlight budget shortfalls, limited agency authorities, political headwinds, and past setbacks (e.g., EPA’s abandoned water-sector cybersecurity rules) as barriers to implementation. The article references threats such as China’s Volt Typhoon and Russian-linked hacktivists against water facilities as context and warns that administration turnover could impede follow-through.