U.S. Policy & Cybersecurity

“The passage of President Joe Biden’s infrastructure and budget reconciliation bills are the highest profile change of 2021,” said economic analysis firm ECONorthwest.  

The $1 trillion infrastructure bill that was recently signed into law provides funding for improving roads, bridges, ports, railroads, water safety, the power grid, broadband internet and more. It has been described as the largest infrastructure investment since the Eisenhower administration. 

The bipartisan infrastructure bill was a response to a broadly accepted belief among policymakers that the poor state of the nation’s roads, bridges, and water systems posed a threat to our economic competitiveness. The partisan reconciliation bill, from the Biden Administration’s perspective, aims to invest in children and caregiving, combat climate change, and add progressivity to the tax code.   

2021 was extraordinarily active on the policy front, and Congressional activity will slow as the 2022 midterm elections approach.

 
Economist Bill Conerly agrees that the Biden administration’s largest legislative efforts have been for the infrastructure bill and the budget reconciliation bill, otherwise known as “Build Back Better”. 
 
In 2022 major new legislation is unlikely because of focus on the mid-term elections. Instead, he believes the administration will advance its regulatory policy, with strong efforts to increase environmental protections and promote labor unions. Immigration reform will not progress, Conerly said. Trade policy may be a little liberalized. 

Various forms of “phishing” are the leading cybersecurity and fraud threats in 2021, said ECONorthwest. Email is the most common form with well disguised, legitimate looking messaging that trick employees into downloading harmful software, revealing passwords, or sharing credit card numbers. In 2020, the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (FBI IC3) received 19,369 business email compromise complaints with associated losses of $1.8 billion. The variations of the practice have extended to bogus websites, text messaging, and voicemails. 

Businesses should consider cybercrime a near inevitability, and many have already incurred losses, the firm said. Preparation starts with an investment in an IT security manager—either in-house or a contracted cybersecurity freelancer. The security team needs to monitor the ever-evolving criminal techniques, and detection methods must be in place 24/7.  

 
Businesses, regardless of size, should develop cybersecurity policies that spell out roles and responsibilities throughout the organization. Policy basics include guidelines on protecting computers and servers, adopting multi-factor authentication, and putting firewalls around sensitive data. They also should make sure ongoing employee education and training around cybersecurity is part of their operations.  

 
Businesses should make time for “what if” tabletop exercises and should routinely test their systems, said ECONorthwest. Combating cybercrime is time intensive, and the costs are apparent to staff. Businesses need to consistently underscore the benefits of preparation.