Loading story…
US cyber leadership signaled near-term movement on national cybersecurity strategy and critical-infrastructure cyber regulation, emphasizing closer industry-government coordination. National Cyber Director Sean Cairncross said the forthcoming national cyber strategy aims to streamline overlapping regulations away from checklist compliance, while strengthening information-sharing mechanisms, federal modernization, critical infrastructure protection, workforce development, emerging technologies, and deterrence of foreign cyberattacks; he also highlighted work on an AI security framework and urged support for reauthorizing the 2015 Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act.
CISA indicated an update is imminent on implementing the 2022 Cyber Incident Reporting for Critical Infrastructure Act (CIRCIA) after delays and industry backlash to an earlier approach. CISA executive assistant director Nick Andersen said news is expected “in the next couple of weeks” on how the rulemaking will proceed; the final rule deadline has slipped to May 2026. CIRCIA would require critical infrastructure entities to report major cyber incidents within 72 hours and ransomware payments within 24 hours to CISA, reflecting federal efforts to standardize incident reporting and improve national visibility into significant attacks.
Mallory correlates global threat intelligence with your attack surface — know if you’re exposed before adversaries strike.
7 events from the most recent confirmed update back to the earliest known activity.
Cairncross said the forthcoming strategy will be released 'sooner rather than later' and will address areas including federal modernization, critical infrastructure protection, workforce development, emerging technologies, and cyber deterrence.
Sean Cairncross said the U.S. government needs business help to identify regulatory friction points and improve information sharing as it develops a new national cyber strategy.
Nick Andersen, CISA's executive assistant director for cybersecurity, told reporters that news on the delayed CIRCIA rulemaking should come within weeks, though he did not say whether the process would be restarted or modified.
Following criticism from industry of an earlier draft of the CIRCIA rule, the implementation timeline slipped, with the final rule now expected in May 2026.
Although CIRCIA required CISA to publish a final implementing rule by October, the agency did not meet that deadline.
The Cyber Incident Reporting for Critical Infrastructure Act was enacted in 2022, requiring covered entities to report major cyber incidents within 72 hours and ransomware payments within 24 hours.
The 2021 Colonial Pipeline cyberattack was cited as a major incident that helped spur U.S. efforts to mandate cyber incident reporting for critical infrastructure.
Vulnerabilities, threat actors, malware, products, organizations, and breaches Mallory has linked to this story.
2 references tracked. Mallory keeps watching after this page renders.
Map indicators from this story to your assets and identify affected systems in minutes.
Every observed campaign, victim, and pivot linked to actors named in this story.
Malware, exploits, and IOCs connected to the activity described here.
YARA, Sigma, and Snort rules deployed to your SIEM as soon as they’re published.
Get matching new stories delivered to your team as they break — not the next morning.
Ask questions about this story and take action on the answers.
Other stories Mallory is tracking that overlap on entities, sources, or topic labels.
CISA is expected to finalize its long-delayed **Cyber Incident Reporting for Critical Infrastructure Act** (`CIRCIA`) rule by September, establishing a mandatory federal reporting regime for critical infrastructure operators. Under the rule, covered entities would have to report substantial cyber incidents to CISA within **72 hours** and disclose **ransomware payments within 24 hours**, marking a major shift from the agency’s largely voluntary incident-sharing model. The reporting mandate was authorized in 2022 but missed its statutory October 2025 deadline amid rulemaking delays and Department of Homeland Security scheduling disruptions. CISA has continued procedural work and stakeholder outreach, including notices and town halls, as officials refine the final directive shaped by lessons from the **SolarWinds** compromise, the **Colonial Pipeline** attack, and broader concerns that geopolitical crises could trigger cyberattacks against U.S. infrastructure.
Jul 7, 2026
The **Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA)** announced it will hold sector-by-sector virtual town halls to gather additional industry feedback on its long-delayed rulemaking under the **Cyber Incident Reporting for Critical Infrastructure Act (CIRCIA)**. The proposed regulation would require covered critical infrastructure entities to report **significant cyber incidents within 72 hours** and **ransomware payments within 24 hours**, but key details—such as which entities are covered, how to treat small businesses, what incident examples trigger reporting, and how to avoid conflicts with existing regulatory regimes—remain contentious and are a focus of the sessions. Separately, CISA leadership briefed staff on an impending **Cybersecurity Division reorganization** driven by resource constraints, including plans to **deprioritize or shut down some programs** to concentrate on higher-profile goals such as **operational technology (OT) security** and core national cyber defense functions. The internal messaging emphasized doing more with fewer personnel following a period of layoffs, retirements, and other disruptions, while refocusing the division on delivering actionable cyber intelligence to partners and coordinating broader “national cybersecurity defense” planning and operations.
Jun 29, 2026
U.S. federal cyber operations faced heightened uncertainty amid **leadership turnover and staffing reductions at CISA**, raising concerns about the agency’s capacity to execute its mission. Reporting indicated acting director **Madhu Gottumukkala** was replaced by **Nick Andersen** following controversies including alleged mishandling of sensitive information, while CISA also lost its CIO and reportedly saw staffing reduced by roughly one-third. Separately, Senate confirmation dynamics continued to affect cyber leadership, with Sen. Ron Wyden opposing the nomination of Lt. Gen. **Joshua Rudd** to lead **U.S. Cyber Command and the NSA**, citing concerns about experience and constitutional-rights familiarity as the agencies remained without a permanent chief. CISA’s policy and guidance output continued but faced headwinds from broader federal disruptions. CISA published new insider-threat program guidance centered on the **POEM framework** (*Plan, Organize, Execute, Maintain*) to help organizations build multi-disciplinary insider threat management teams spanning physical security, cybersecurity, HR/personnel, and reporting/analysis functions. At the same time, a **partial DHS shutdown** was reported to be stalling progress on the **Cyber Incident Reporting for Critical Infrastructure Act (CIRCIA)** rulemaking, complicating compliance planning for critical infrastructure entities awaiting clarity on incident reporting requirements and enforcement expectations.
Jun 29, 2026