Security Magazine logo
search
cart
facebook twitter linkedin youtube
  • Sign In
  • Create Account
  • Sign Out
  • My Account
Security Magazine logo
  • NEWS
    • Security Newswire
    • Technologies & Solutions
  • MANAGEMENT
    • Leadership Management
    • Enterprise Services
    • Security Education & Training
    • Logical Security
    • Security & Business Resilience
    • Profiles in Excellence
  • PHYSICAL
    • Access Management
    • Fire & Life Safety
    • Identity Management
    • Physical Security
    • Video Surveillance
    • Case Studies (Physical)
  • CYBER
    • Cybersecurity News
    • More
  • BLOG
  • COLUMNS
    • Cyber Tactics
    • Leadership & Management
    • Security Talk
    • Career Intelligence
    • Leader to Leader
    • Cybersecurity Education & Training
  • EXCLUSIVES
    • Annual Guarding Report
    • Most Influential People in Security
    • The Security Benchmark Report
    • The Security Leadership Issue
    • Top Guard and Security Officer Companies
    • Top Cybersecurity Leaders
    • Women in Security
  • SECTORS
    • Arenas / Stadiums / Leagues / Entertainment
    • Banking/Finance/Insurance
    • Construction, Real Estate, Property Management
    • Education: K-12
    • Education: University
    • Government: Federal, State and Local
    • Hospitality & Casinos
    • Hospitals & Medical Centers
    • Infrastructure:Electric,Gas & Water
    • Ports: Sea, Land, & Air
    • Retail/Restaurants/Convenience
    • Transportation/Logistics/Supply Chain/Distribution/ Warehousing
  • EVENTS
    • Industry Events
    • Webinars
    • Solutions by Sector
    • Security 500 Conference
  • MEDIA
    • Videos
      • Cybersecurity & Geopolitical Discussion
      • Ask Me Anything (AMA) Series
    • Podcasts
    • Polls
    • Photo Galleries
  • MORE
    • Call for Entries
    • Classifieds & Job Listings
    • Continuing Education
    • Newsletter
    • Sponsor Insights
    • Store
    • White Papers
  • EMAG
    • eMagazine
    • This Month's Content
    • Advertise
  • SIGN UP!
CybersecuritySecurity NewswireCybersecurity NewsGovernment: Federal, State and Local

Experts weigh in on CIRCIA one year later

By Rachelle Blair-Frasier, Editor in Chief
Digital-Lock.jpg

Image via Pixabay

March 31, 2023

It has been a year since the Cyber Incident Reporting for Critical Infrastructure Act of 2022 (CIRCIA) was signed into law by President Biden and security leaders are sharing their thoughts on the legislation.

CIRCIA requires critical infrastructure owners and operators report ransomware payments to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) within 72 hours.

“Conceptually, this was an excellent step toward securing critical infrastructure. While there is an understandable reluctance, especially in the private sector, to share information about cyberattacks, the cybersecurity community needs more information sharing if we're ever going to get ahead of threat actors and stay there,” said Mike Parkin, senior technical engineer at Vulcan Cyber. “By sharing information, even sanitized and redacted information, about security events we can analyze the attacks and improve our defenses overall. Keeping the details secret may save face and possibly keep some data from the hands of competitors, but that kind of secrecy doesn't make the world safer as threat actors have been able to count on that secrecy to retain their advantage.”

Chief Security Advisor at Tanium, Timothy Morris, said it seems CISA has been more vocal over the last year, especially with their known exploited vulnerability (KEV) announcements.

“However, that isn’t a part of this new law. As with most new laws, enforcements and audits take some time to ramp up,” Morris added. “Some agencies were already ahead of reporting requirements, like the SEC which has very tight reporting windows. They seem to be going stronger requiring more transparency with the details of a cyber incident or breach. In contrast, other agencies are further behind on reporting requirements, like the FCC (although they have new guidelines proposed).”

Morris said it will benefit the industry once all agencies have consistent requirements, not just for critical infrastructure or the financial industry.

“Sadly, in my opinion, the laws and regulations are necessary because self-regulation hasn’t worked to protect the public with regards to cybersecurity,” Morris said. “The impact attacks and breaches have had has shown that.”

Not long after CIRCIA was signed into law, CISA and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) established the Joint Ransomware Task Force (JRTF) in September 2022 to coordinate a nationwide campaign against ransomware attacks. And in January of this year CISA established the Ransomware Vulnerability Warning Pilot (RVWP) Program to identify the most common security vulnerabilities used in ransomware attacks and to identify information systems that already contain these vulnerabilities.

Bud Broomhead, CEO at Viakoo, agrees that CIRCIA is a key milestone in moving critical infrastructure —and organizations in general — toward more awareness and coordinated response to cyber threats.

“It’s not the destination (secure and resilient infrastructure), but an important waypoint toward it,” Broomhead said. “As the attack surface within critical industries has shifted towards IoT/OT/ICS vulnerabilities, CIRCIA has been forward-thinking in its focus on these types of vulnerabilities, and has acted as an accelerant to industry-level information and best practice sharing. As CIRCIA heads towards having final rule defined it is doing so with significant industry discussion and involvement.”  

By March 2024 CISA is required by CIRCIA to publish a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and open it for public comment.

“As we approach the halfway mark for CISA to issue a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) under the Cyber Incident Reporting for Critical Infrastructure Act of 2022, it is clear both how transformational this and other cybersecurity transparency laws will be, but also how seriously CISA is taking this,” said Claude Mandy, chief evangelist, data security at Symmetry Systems. “CISA is asking for $98 million in funding to administer the incident reporting program; and has spent the last months gathering input from stakeholders across the country to ensure the first draft of its proposed rule considers their concerns.”

Mandy continued that despite the thoroughness of the CISA approach, a lot of organizations that fall into the current definition of a “covered entity within Designated Critical Infrastructure Sectors” will unfortunately remain unprepared and unaware of the implications of CIRCIA.

“Although organizations will have 18 months from the NPRM until the final rule is enacted, the transformation required in this timeframe for organizations to be able to produce an accurate assessment of the scope and impact of a cybersecurity incident within 72 hours feels daunting,” Mandy added. “Given that CISA has strongly encouraged organizations to voluntarily share cyber event information with CISA throughout the rulemaking period, it will be interesting to see how much information organizations have volunteered to date and whether that starts to increase as we get closer to the effective date.”

KEYWORDS: CISA critical infrastructure cybersecurity cyber attack legislation ransomware

Share This Story

Looking for a reprint of this article?
From high-res PDFs to custom plaques, order your copy today!

Rachelle blairfrasier headshot white

Rachelle Blair-Frasier is Security magazine’s Editor in Chief. Blair-Frasier handles eMagazine features, as well as writes and publishes online news and web exclusives on topics including physical security, risk management, cybersecurity and emerging industry trends. She helps coordinate multimedia content and manages Security magazine's social media presence, in addition to working with security leaders to publish industry insights. Blair-Frasier brings more than 15 years of journalism and B2B writing and editorial experience to the role.

Recommended Content

JOIN TODAY
To unlock your recommendations.

Already have an account? Sign In

  • Security's Top Cybersecurity Leaders 2024

    Security's Top Cybersecurity Leaders 2024

    Security magazine's Top Cybersecurity Leaders 2024 award...
    Security Leadership and Management
    By: Security Staff
  • cyber brain

    The intersection of cybersecurity and artificial intelligence

    Artificial intelligence (AI) is a valuable cybersecurity...
    Columns
    By: Pam Nigro
  • artificial intelligence AI graphic

    Assessing the pros and cons of AI for cybersecurity

    Artificial intelligence (AI) has significant implications...
    Logical Security
    By: Charles Denyer
Manage My Account
  • Security eNewsletter & Other eNews Alerts
  • eMagazine Subscriptions
  • Manage My Preferences
  • Online Registration
  • Mobile App
  • Subscription Customer Service

More Videos

Sponsored Content

Sponsored Content is a special paid section where industry companies provide high quality, objective, non-commercial content around topics of interest to the Security audience. All Sponsored Content is supplied by the advertising company and any opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and not necessarily reflect the views of Security or its parent company, BNP Media. Interested in participating in our Sponsored Content section? Contact your local rep!

close
  • Sureview screen
    Sponsored bySureView Systems

    The Evolution of Automation in the Command Center

  • Crisis Response Team
    Sponsored byEverbridge

    Automate or Fall Behind – Crisis Response at the Speed of Risk

  • Perimeter security
    Sponsored byAMAROK

    Why Property Security is the New Competitive Advantage

Popular Stories

Rendered computer with keyboard

16B Login Credentials Exposed in World’s Largest Data Breach

Verizon on phone screen

61M Records Listed for Sale Online, Allegedly Belong to Verizon

Security camera

40,000 IoT Security Cameras Are Exposed Online

Fountain pen

Trump Administration Executive Order Changes Cybersecurity Policy

Red spiderweb

From Retail to Insurance, Scattered Spider Changes Targets

2025 Security Benchmark banner

Events

July 17, 2025

Tech in the Jungle: Leveraging Surveillance, Access Control, and Technology in Unique Environments

What do zebras, school groups and high-tech surveillance have in common? They're all part of a day’s work for the security team at the Toledo Zoo.

August 7, 2025

Threats to the Energy Sector: Implications for Corporate and National Security

The energy sector has found itself in the crosshairs of virtually every bad actor on the global stage.

View All Submit An Event

Products

Security Culture: A How-to Guide for Improving Security Culture and Dealing with People Risk in Your Organisation

Security Culture: A How-to Guide for Improving Security Culture and Dealing with People Risk in Your Organisation

See More Products

Related Articles

  • Digital fingerprint

    A year of Security

    See More
  • American flag

    Shifts in cybersecurity

    See More
  • Public transportation system

    Ensuring safety on the move: Strengthening security in public transportation

    See More

Related Products

See More Products
  • CASP.jpg.jpg

    CASP+ CompTIA Advanced Security Practitioner Certification All-In-One Exam Guide...

  • GSEC.jpg

    GSEC GIAC Security Essentials Certification All-In-One Exam Guide, 2E

  • s in europe.jpg

    Surveillance in Europe

See More Products
×

Sign-up to receive top management & result-driven techniques in the industry.

Join over 20,000+ industry leaders who receive our premium content.

SIGN UP TODAY!
  • RESOURCES
    • Advertise
    • Contact Us
    • Store
    • Want More
  • SIGN UP TODAY
    • Create Account
    • eMagazine
    • eNewsletter
    • Customer Service
    • Manage Preferences
  • SERVICES
    • Marketing Services
    • Reprints
    • Market Research
    • List Rental
    • Survey/Respondent Access
  • STAY CONNECTED
    • LinkedIn
    • Facebook
    • YouTube
    • X (Twitter)
  • PRIVACY
    • PRIVACY POLICY
    • TERMS & CONDITIONS
    • DO NOT SELL MY PERSONAL INFORMATION
    • PRIVACY REQUEST
    • ACCESSIBILITY

Copyright ©2025. All Rights Reserved BNP Media.

Design, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing