On May 30, 2018, the U.S. Departments of Commerce and Homeland Security released an action-oriented report on how the private sector and government can collaborate to mitigate against the threat of botnets and automated distributed attacks.

The Security Industry Association (SIA) commends the extensive efforts of these two departments to develop this report, and SIA supports the primary goals described within the report, titled Report to the Present on Enhancing the Resilience of the Internet and Communications Ecosystem Against Botnets and Other Automated, Distributed Threats. The departments’ report to the President correctly place emphasis on the importance of fostering private sector innovation and market incentives as methods to combat the destructive and far-reaching nature of botnets, SIA said.

SIA is also encouraged by the call to action issued from the report authors for increased education to all stakeholders about how to identify and mitigate against botnet attacks. This goal complements education and resources previously offered by SIA, including the SIA Beginner’s Guide to Product and System Hardening; the SIA cybersecurity webcast “Dealing With Cyber Security Threats”; SIA Enterprise Security Recommendations; SIA’s Cyber Onboarding Guide for Employees; and the recent launch of the Cyber:Secured Forum conference. Additionally, as a voluntary consensus standards body, SIA is interested in participating in any discussions related to voluntary labeling programs for industrial Internet of Things devices and voluntary informational tools for connected home products.

Finally, SIA is pleased to serve as a resource to federal agencies as the botnet roadmap called for through the report is developed over the next few months and actively participate in industry coalitions who share these same goals. These are important discussions that will benefit from the technical expertise and ingenuity of SIA members, the organization stated.