President Obama has requested a 35 percent increase in the 2017 budget for cybersecurity as well as announced plans to implement a Cybersecurity National Action Plan (CNAP).

The CNAP would take near-term actions and put in place a long-term strategy to enhance cybersecurity awareness and protections, protect privacy, maintain public safety as well as economic and national security, and empower Americans to take better control of their digital security

To implement these “sweeping changes,” the federal government is requesting more than $19 billion for cybersecurity for the 2017 budget. These resources will enable agencies to raise their level of cybersecurity, help private sector organizations and individuals better protect themselves, disrupt and deter adversary activity and respond more effectively to incidents.

Short-term plans include the following:

• Establish the “Commission on Enhancing National Cybersecurity.” This Commission will be comprised of top strategic, business and technical thinkers from the private sector. The Commission will make recommendations on actions that can be taken over the next decade to strengthen cybersecurity in both the public and private sectors while protecting privacy; maintaining public safety and economic and national security; fostering discovery and development of new technical solutions; and bolstering partnerships between federal, state and local government and the private sector in the development, promotion and use of cybersecurity technologies, policies and best practices. 
• Modernize government IT and transform how the government manages cybersecurity through the proposal of a $3.1 billion Information Technology Modernization Fund, which will enable the retirement, replacement and modernization of legacy IT that is difficult to secure and expensive to maintain. The fund also would form a new postion of Federal Chief Information Security Officer to drive these changes across the government.
• Empower Americans to secure their online accounts by adding an extra layer of security beyond passwords. By judiciously combining a strong password with additional factors, such as a fingerprint or a single use code delivered in a text message, Americans can make their accounts even more secure.
• This focus on multi-factor authentication will be central to a new National Cybersecurity Awareness Campaign launched by the National Cyber Security Alliance designed to arm consumers with simple and actionable information to protect themselves in an increasingly digital world. The National Cyber Security Alliance will partner with leading technology firms like Google, Facebook, DropBox and Microsoft to make it easier for millions of users to secure their online accounts, and financial services companies such as MasterCard, Visa, PayPal and Venmo that are making transactions more secure.
• Safeguard personal data in online transactions between citizens and the government through a new action plan to drive the adoption and use of effective identity proofing and strong multi-factor authentication methods and a systematic review of where the federal government can reduce reliance on Social Security numbers as an identifier of citizens.

Access the CNAP fact sheet.